Month: March 2020

On 6th June 2003, 9:01pm I sent myself this message (via True African):

“Over six months I have called this place home. And so it ends. The future beckons. Shall we proceed? Afterall, it is only destiny”.

I was 20 years old, and I had just quit my second and last formal job. I made the very risky decision to jump into self-employment without any sort of plan.

It’s been close to two decades of self-employment and entrepreneurship, with lots of trial & error, tons of mistakes and some polite success.

But the question that keeps coming back to me is: would I do it again?

A lot of people will quickly say they would do it again in a heartbeat.

Me? I’m not sure.

Obviously, each choice we make creates a divergence in our lives and in thousands of lives within the tapestry that surrounds us. We set into motion things, actions and journeys that are intertwined and irreversible.

The person I am today is the result of the choice I made when I quit my job, and no amount of hindsight will rationalize destiny.

In the eternally wise words of Master Ugwe, “One most often meets one’s destiny on the road one takes to avoid it.”

Paths diverge, trajectories and lives change and we make our peace.

On one hand, every single person I’ve employed, every client whose business was transformed (by any of the companies I’ve started), every child Fundi Bots has reached and every friend I made along that path… all of them were outcomes of that one inflexion point.

On the other hand, if I had stayed, I likely would’ve maintained and grown a career in web development, or decided to continue with school because of family pressure.

I’d probably be married by now (I can almost see the usual suspects commenting).

Maybe I wouldn’t have been as broke as I have been for the last 17 years.

So, there’s a psychological burden that choices like this bring, and one that many of us struggle with. Oftentimes, it manifests as regret, anger or longing for something that could have worked out a certain way, even though we have no guarantee of that fact.

And those regrets then transform into fear and uncertainty, and in extreme cases, an inability to make decisions that are perceived as too extreme.

The what-if questions overwhelm us into comfort-zones and inaction, and one-in-a-lifetime opportunities are missed because of our fear.

This becomes even more complex when we have people depending and counting on us to lead and to provide.

When you have families, teams and communities that look up to you each day for wisdom, guidance and leadership, the burden is multiplied because you must make GOOD decisions.

I choose – as much as I can – not to linger on regret because I believe that each choice I make is made on the assumption that it is the best choice, made with the best intentions.

And that only time can tell you whether you are right or wrong.

I don’t know what you’re struggling with right now, and I don’t know what that big decision is, but I sincerely hope that you can find clarity in the now and hope in the future.

I hope that you lean on the past simply as a reference point, and not as a tether or anchor holding you back.

We cannot predict tomorrow – for that is kismet, outside of our control – but we can plot the best course given the tools, knowledge and experience we have NOW.

And I pray, above all that you can learn to be at peace with the decision you make, no matter how it turns out.

As always, onwards. And upwards.
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[ I share weekly on my new YouTube Channel. Please watch and subscribe here: http://bit.ly/3aktiBW ]

“People romanticize their plans but dread the execution. The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding.”

The fear of the work and the process is more real than we like to publicly admit because it requires us to step out of our comfort zones.

When I started Fundi Bots, I had all these grand dreams, ideas and plans that I knew I wanted us to achieve.

But I did not want to do the fundraising, because my comfort zone was in building things and innovating, not in meeting people and convincing them to fund our ideas.

So I spent years trying to get other people to handle the fundraising role, convincing myself that I wasn’t qualified or competent enough.

And while they were relatively successful, they still couldn’t articulate the vision with the passion and clarity that I had (which is another leadership challenge I’ll talk about later).

The same discomfort with building new business prospects, and pursuing leads led to constant cashflow issues at my previous companies. We cycled through marketing and salespeople like crazy.

But over time I learnt that when your ideas are too unique or too new for the market, then you, the founder are the best person to communicate & convince other people to join or support your work.

And I realized that as I kept avoiding the work that was important, as I stayed away from the process that was necessary for success, the money got less and people started leaving.

Which meant that each day, this dream of better education for Africa’s children kept fading away.

And so, with help from advisors and partners, I re-calibrated and slowly found a way to make fundraising fun and engaging for my personality type.

I worked on communicating better, and sharing more, and generally putting myself in uncomfortable spaces and places.

Because I knew that that’s where the magic was and that’s where the success would be.

And it’s worked well so far.

But, I’m still very uncomfortable. I’m still not a fan of crowds or large audiences. I don’t like giving speeches or being interviewed on TV.

But I know that all these things are necessary and are part of the process for the success of Fundi Bots.

[ Side note: Speaking of extreme discomfort, in less than four days, my YouTube channel will be launching. I’ll be sharing these stories and interviews with other entrepreneurs on YouTube.

Show some support by subscribing here. ]

And also, I now have a wonderful team that complements my weaknesses, and we have leaders in the organization who enjoy the things that make me uncomfortable.

Which means I’m beyond happy to let them thrive where I would struggle.

For example, I was recently invited to a learning conference in India. On closer inspection, I realized there was a lady on our team who would be exceptionally perfect for that conference.

And she tells how very heavily extroverted the entire event was, and how much fun she had!

So, the painful lessons I’ve learnt through this years-long metamorphosis will never be lost. For Fundi Bots or myself.

I have also learnt to love the process. And because of that, the success and the results that we dream of are closer and more achievable.

So, your dreams of results may excite you, but the reality will only appear after you’ve gone through the necessary process.

It’s never an easy process, but it gets easier because with time, you get better and you get stronger.

Learn to love the process.

Happy new week!