Nancy Gacheri: I have always had a passion for coming up with a business that would leave a mark in the Kenyan industry
Nancy Gacheri is the 25 year old director of Best Shoes Kenya (BSK), and a Bachelor of Business Information Technology graduate. Currently she is working as a Sales and Marketing Manager for Sunstar Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. Nancy is passionate about entrepreneurship and strives to leave a legacy of positive change in everything she does. She currently blogs for Life after campus (http://whatelseaftercampus.co.ke/news/) and finds satisfaction in helping others. [bctt tweet=”The customer is the most important person in my business” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Who is Nancy? I am a God fearing, industrious, outgoing and well rounded young lady. I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and motivated by the need to bring the change I want to see in the world. What is Best Shoes Kenya? Best Shoes Kenya was established in May 2016. It is a footwear manufacturing startup company which uses locally sourced materials. We manufacture men casual and official leather shoes, as well as school wear. Our mission is to attain sustainable growth in business through the production of quality, affordable and classy shoes. We are a wholesale and retail shoe company situated at Membley estate Ruiru. How did you find a gap in the market for your business? The shoe industry in Kenya has seen most of its products coming from foreign countries. This pushed me to channel my entrepreneurship skills into shoe production. The need to produce quality and lasting Kenyan shoes is the motivation behind BSK. What are three key business lessons you have learnt since running BSK? I had to learn to separate business cash flow from my personal savings, by having a separate bank account. This means also setting it up legal through registration. The customer is the most important person in my business, they can either grow it or bring it down. Plan first, then act. A business plan is a key stepping stone to a successful venture, without one you just are planning to fail. How has the market responded to Best Shoes Kenya? At first it was really difficult because the local market perception is that Kenyan products cannot be of good quality. But with time, we have been able to gain a loyal client base. Most of which are repeat customers or referral customers. How do you balance your full time Sales and Marketing job and running the BSK business? This has been my greatest challenge up to date. My full time job is from 8 am to 5 pm and from work I head home where my workshop is, to see the day’s production. It has taken so much personal discipline and sacrifice, and it has cost me a social life. I dedicate most weekends to Best Shoes Kenya and to responding to various customer queries and follow ups. I am looking forward to running the business full-time, after raising a significant amount of cash to purchase the necessary machinery for production enhancement. What are two challenges you have faced and overcome at BSK? Market penetration was the greatest challenge due to poor product perception. The myth that locally made products are not good quality. But through the production of high quality products, which meet customer satisfaction, we were able to establish a loyal client base. Balancing between my full time job and running a business used to drain my energy significantly. But with time I have been able to strike a balance. What keeps you inspired to run your business each day? I am my own motivator, and I desire to become a change agent. The dream is to see BSK on the next level, as I explore my entrepreneurial spirit and positively impact lives. What is your three year growth plan for BSK? The three year plan for BSK is to be a front-runner of locally manufactured shoes in Kenya and the greater African market . To grow to have a ternary for leather, soles and all needed for the production of shoes. To begin a HUB which will promote the entrepreneurial spirit among Kenyans, and hopefully inspire the youth to realize their goals. In one sentence, how would you want to be remembered? I want to be remembered as someone who pursued her dreams and did not just get comfortable with living, until she brought about the change she wanted to see. Instagram: @gitsherry Facebook: bestshoeskenya Twitter: NancySheri Are you in the shoe manufacturing industry? Let us know more about you and your story here.
How to balance multiple jobs
[bctt tweet=”Be honest with yourself and what you can and can’t handle” via=”no”] These days, side hustles are the new hobbies and working more than one job is pretty much expected. Between paying off student loans and getting the rent check in on time, it’s no wonder more working class people leave their 9-5’s and clock in for a 5-9 right after. Although working those long hours can be vigorous, it’s commendable. One trait that highly successful people share is that they’re persistent, meaning grind until your goals are reached by any means. Oprah didn’t become Oprah by showing up to work and then kicking her feet up afterward, so why should you? Stick to a schedule Since your time is now limited and especially precious, every minute counts. Staying on schedule will make your tasks flow more easily and relieve you of the stress of forgetting to complete something. Although it seems obvious, keeping a calendar with your tasks detailed by day will be extremely helpful. Keep your calendar in a place where you are productive and visit often such as your desk. Prioritize If you’re busy at job 1 planning an annual fundraiser, it’s probably not the best time to pick up an extra shift at job 2. Be honest with yourself and what you can and can’t handle. [bctt tweet=”Staying on schedule will make your tasks flow more easily ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Be realistic with your time Stretching yourself too thin isn’t beneficial if you work a full-time job and have clients to please for your personal business. Therefore, be realistic and don’t sacrifice sleep in the meantime. Know when it’s time to throw in the towel Letting something go doesn’t mean you quit, it means you’re changing strategy. When one job doesn’t fit your lifestyle don’t be afraid to move on. Be honest with your employers By not being upfront with your employers about other jobs, you welcome easy opportunities to cause a rift in the workplace. Chances are, after being open with your boss they’ll understand and be receptive to why you’re drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day. [bctt tweet=”Be realistic and don’t sacrifice sleep in the meantime ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How to plan a productive day with multiple hustles Wake up on time Every second counts when you’re attempting to balance multiple gigs. This means the snooze button is no longer an option. Set your day up where every moment is valuable. Meditate/Set your intentions Whether you do this in the morning or before you go to bed, it’s important to take time to centre yourself and stay focused in the midst of being busy. There are several apps that make meditation easy whether you’re at home, on your lunch break, or on the train home. Both Simple Habit and Headspace provide users with free customizable opportunities to wind down with meditations ranging from 5 minutes to half an hour. Make your lunch productive Although it’s important to take a break during your lunch time, if your mind has been focused on multiple projects, take your lunch to hash out your thoughts or get some work done. Also, make sure you’re eating a healthy lunch that will give you energy. Keep a notebook throughout your day You know that thought that pops into your head about job 2 while your at job 1? The same thought you forget about once you actually get to job 2 and now it’s driving you crazy? Avoid the hustler haze and carry a notebook to write down your random thoughts throughout the day. [bctt tweet=”Instead of getting flustered with everything you need to get done, plan out each task one by one” via=”no”] Schedule your post-work personal tasks It can be overwhelming working several jobs and still having to be concerned with making dinner, washing your hair, or cleaning the bathroom. Instead of getting flustered with everything you need to get done, plan out each task one by one. Wind down Always take time to yourself. Whether it’s having a glass of wine, watching an episode of your favorite show, or taking a nice bath. It’s crucial to maintain your sanity and mental health while you’re busy. Practice Gratitude Writing down everything you’re thankful for will ground you and put everything in perspective especially if you’ve had a bad day. When you visualize what you’re grateful for you’re able to appreciate everything you have and stay motivated while you grind. Get a good night’s sleep You can only be so productive without a healthy amount of sleep. It’s a fact!
How to stop procrastinating using ‘temptation bundling’
[bctt tweet=”Procrastination is like a credit bill: it’s a lot of fun until you get the bill” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Does this scenario sound familiar? You wake up in the morning, pump your fist in the air and tell yourself that today you will finally go to the gym and exercise. As the day goes on, you’re losing energy and willpower from work demands and other activities. By the time you get home from work, you’re exhausted the last thing on your mind is to exercise. Then, just like every other day, you curl up on the couch read a book and watch your favourite TV show. It’s been several months since you had your New Year’s resolution to get in shape, but you’re still procrastinating on it. Luckily, there is a simple, effective strategy you can use right now to stop procrastinating and start taking action to achieve your goals. You’re not alone Katy Milkman, Associate Professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, had a similar struggle in overcoming procrastination. In an episode of Freakonomics, she talks about this strategy: “I struggle at the end of a long day to get myself to the gym even though I know that I should go. And at the end of a long day, I also struggle with the desire to watch my favourite TV shows instead of getting work done. And so I actually realized that those two temptations, those two struggles I faced, could be combined to solve both problems.” To combat her chronic procrastination, Katy simply combined her guilty pleasure of watching her favourite TV show with her long-term goal of losing weight. She would only allow herself to read ‘The Hunger Games’ book when she went to the gym. Her strategy worked very well, Katy soon started going to the gym regularly soon after. This simple technique of combining things that make you feel good now with something that is good for you in the long-run is called ‘temptation bundling’. Temptation bundling Essentially, you bundle behaviours you are tempted to do with behaviours that you ‘should’ be doing. Temptation bundling has been formally tested in a study done on the exercise habits of 226 students from the University Of Pennsylvania. During the experiment, students were only allowed to listen to their favourite audio books if they went to the gym to exercise The result: students who applied the temptation bundling strategy were close to 51% more likely to exercise than the control group. (Full study, PDF) [bctt tweet=” How to (finally) stop procrastinating using this research-backed strategy” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How to use temptation bundling to stop procrastinating Here’s a simple exercise to put all of this into action. Draw two columns on a piece of paper. In column one, write down the activities that you’ve been procrastinating on doing. In column two, write down your guilty pleasures that give you that feeling of instant gratification. Now you can simply criss-cross across both columns to match what you ‘should’ be doing with what you ‘want’ to do. For example, whilst writing this article, I’m also listening to my favourite music and podcasts. I’ve also used a similar technique to maintain a regular exercise routine for over five years. Here are some examples that may help: I will only listen to my favourite music when I exercise. I will only watch my favourite show when I work on my writing project. I will only get a pedicure when I catch up on my backlog of emails. Recap “Just try new things. Don’t be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right?” – Michelle Obama Temptation bundling is one of many strategies that will help you stop procrastinating and take action. Most importantly, it kick-starts a new habit by helping you to do more of the things you should be doing and not just things you want to do. By combining your guilty pleasures with your long-term goals, you can begin to build healthy habits that will transform your life.
The GoalGetter’s guide to creating schedules for productivity
Where does your time really go? The goalgetter’s guide is here to change your life! Whether you are a full-time student, employed, a small business owner or you’re juggling all three, we are all bound to have moments of wishing for more time. If you watched our webinar on personal efficiency and time management, with Tafadzwa Bete-Sasa, and you’re still not sure how to create the time and discipline to be productive, NO WORRIES, we’ve designed for you a practical guide with some tips and tools to get you organized to and enable you to get more things done. Get you the goalgetter’s guide to learn all you need to know about time management, productivity, and discipline. And guess what? You’ll also get more tips directly from GoalGetter after signing up for this guide. Topics this guide will cover: How to schedule your weeks and days Creating routines Prioritizing Time management tips and resources The last two points will definitely do you good if you spend half your day doing sweet nothings, binge watching episodes on Netflix, or stalking Queen Bey and the twins on Instagram. Getting access to this guide is easy: just fill out the form below to join our community and get access to this guide, as well as AWESOME weekly content. Don’t forget to send the sign-up link to all the serial procrastinators you know. Help a sister, brother, or frenemy out.
How to build a daily culture of rest (The rest rituals of the rich)
[bctt tweet=”We live, work and play, burning out and hoping for resuscitation over the holidays” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] I learnt that we do not have a culture of rest in our society and holidays reveal that for me personally. We live, work and play, burning out and hoping for resuscitation over the holidays. You can’t put your wellness on the line for 350 days and hope that in 2 weeks you can snap back! We need to build a ritual of rest, all successful people have some type of ritual that involves treating their bodies with care, so perhaps this is one you can adopt. Last year, I started reading “Thrive” by Arianna Huffington, but I stopped because I felt that Arianna was telling people to slow down on work after she had sold her business for $315 million to AOL! I was like “let me do that first and then I will rest!” But this holiday I dusted off my copy of “Thrive” and reread it to find some daily rituals I can practice going into the year! Here are my top 5 rest rituals I am challenging myself with this year. 1) Quality sleep: 7-8 Hours a night As an entrepreneur that works from home, it is very difficult to unplug and go to sleep, especially towards the end of the month. The Harvard Medical School’s Division of Sleep Medicine states, “sleep deprivation negatively impacts our mood, our ability to focus, and our ability to access higher level cognitive functions: the combination of these factors is what we generally refer to as mental performance.” Therefore, to be smarter, you have to sleep more; not less! In this instance, I encourage that we sleep our way to the top! Now sleeping isn’t getting into bed and scrolling through time feeds until you fall asleep, you need to completely shut down before you get into the bed and be prepared for sleep. Here are a few things you can do to cross over into la-la land: Make your bedroom darker (use lamps or candles) and keep it cool; Practice deeper breathing before bed (I’ve tried this, it does work) Banish all LCD screens from the bedroom at night (cellphone- charge it in the lounge and buy an alarm clock, laptops, TV, tablet) Get a nice set of pyjamas, instead of a t-shirt, that will excite you to get into bed. 2) The power nap If you decide to nap, you are actually in good company with the likes of former US President John F Kennedy, inventor Thomas Edison, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Their naps would vary from 20 minutes to 2 hours and even up to 6 hours! The most bizarre nap I have heard of is that of Salvadore Dali, the artist, who would nap for 1 second! He called it “slumber with a key” where he would sit in a chair, holding a key and place a plate on the floor so that when he fell asleep the key would fall onto the plate and wake him up! Allegedly Albert Einstein did the same, so it may be worth a try! Slumber is the key! Side note: These are all men, can we take up the challenge of becoming famous women nappers??!! [bctt tweet=”Consider a 30-day social media hiatus at least once every 6 months” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] 3) Unplugging We live in a hyper connected world where we probably know more about whats going on around us than we do whats going on inside us. I did not think I was addicted to social media until I watched Simon Sinek’s talk on Millennials in the Workplace, which you can see here. A warning, do not watch this video if you aren’t ready to make some changes, I was not ready! I strongly recommend a 30-day social media hiatus at least once every 6 months. 4) Minimalism This is a concept I came across recently, so I am also learning! Minimalism is about owning exactly the right things, for you and your needs, and no more than that, so that you then have more time, energy, and resources (including money) to spend on the important stuff. Stuff costs money and it takes up a lot of space -a lack of both can lead to stress- which does not help to rest! Living with less is not just about getting rid of junk and making extra cash from selling your hoarded items. It is about living with passion and purpose and less about living for things. I have read about people living with just 50 items and up to 300 items. It’s about frequently asking the question, ” Does this serve a purpose in my life?” [bctt tweet=”Living with less is living with passion and purpose” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] 5) Quiet time Call it whatever you want, meditation or prayer or power hour or stillness. Whatever word you decide to use. We all need at least 5 minutes or an hour to connect with our source of wisdom and power. I personally use this time to read my Bible and pray. Binge watching series, Netflix, and chill are not resting or recuperating, at best it is escapism. I think implementing each or one of these simple steps on a daily basis will allow us to cultivate a culture of self-care, taking rest daily instead of waiting for the next holidays. What are some of your tips?
Webinar with Tafadzwa Bete-Sasa: Creating routines to maximize productivity (July 4)
[bctt tweet=”Sign up for this webinar with @taffybete and learn how to get more done in less time (July 4th)” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Where is your time really going? Time they say is money! But it’s also one mysterious thing that can creep up on you, and pass you without your noticing. As a Motherland Mogul who wants to SLAy in every area, you must take time management and personal efficiency very seriously. You can’t keep blaming your unproductiveness on too much work or the fact that there are only 24hours in a day. If you’re trying to get things done, but you’re not sure how to create the time and discipline to implement them, this one is for you. Join us on Tuesday, July 4th as we discuss personal efficiency and time management. We’ll be chatting with Tafadzwa Bete-Sasa , a learning and development professional, specializing in training and coaching for productivity. Tafadzwa has designed trainings on various efficiency skills like creating routines and schedules for productivity and creating and nurturing tribes for productivity. This webinar will teach you everything you need to know about discipline, productivity, and how to reach your goals. Register below to get the exclusive link to the webinar. Some of the topics we’ll cover: Time management 101 Scheduling your days and weeks (Minding the hours and minutes) Creating routines: Showing up no matter how you feel Time management hacks – reminders, timers, distraction free zones Webinar Details: Date: Tuesday, July 4th, 2017 Time: Lagos 2pm // Lusaka 3pm // Nairobi 4pm Watch here: About Tafadzwa Tafadzwa Bete-Sasa is the creator of the GoalGetter Planner – a customized daily organizer that helps users to translate their dreams and resolutions into SMART goals and develop action plans to achieve these goals. She is also the founder of the GoalGetter Tribe a community that provides capacity building, inspiration, accountability and networking for young professionals and young entrepreneurs. She is involved in community service as a member of Junior Chamber International (JCI) where she is currently serving as the JCI Zambia National Training Director. Tafadzwa is also a World Economic Forum recognized global shaper with the Lusaka Hub.
7 ways to maximize your productivity everyday
[bctt tweet=”Being productive is not about working longer, it’s about working smarter & achieving more” via=”no”] There was a girl that would wake up at 4.45am every morning to set off for work at 5.00 am. She would stop by the gym for an hour before arriving at work; eat breakfast between 8.30 am and 9.00 am after wading through morning rush traffic. During work, she would often drift off into her own world on her phone, trying to make personal plans because there really was no spare time for other spheres of life. How did Beyoncé do it anyway? Short concentration spans began to set in and before the blink of an eye, it was already closing time. This usually meant time to journey through traffic again. These traffic bouts amounted to 6 hours daily and feelings of underachievement would often arise. That girl was me! Taking charge of my productivity and life is a daily (and not yearly) resolution which has enabled me highlight a few life hacks. Have you been wallowing in disbelief of how you never manage to be very productive? Maybe you have recently taken on a new role at work or have greater developments in your business. Being productive is not about working longer and harder, it’s about working smarter and achieving more. Here are seven ways to effectively maximize your productivity every day: Get quality sleep Even as an adult, you should be having nothing less than 7-8 hours of sleep every day. Anything short of this is simply killing your productivity potential. Apart from gaining a huge 13% on mortality rates compared to those that get more sleep, a recent study also confirms that the US loses up to $411 Billion on productivity from people that sleep less than 6 hours every day. Get to work or attend to your business with a relaxed mind so you can make the most out of your thinking time. Eat brain food Adjusting your diet will do great things for your productivity levels. It is advised to never skip breakfast; but eating heavy and starchy food in the morning can be counterproductive as it you may feel tired a few hours into the day. Endeavour to choose a healthy meal plan that reflects your activity levels to give you a burst of energy and not lethargy. This means a lot more vegetables, lean meats and water with your meals while you have fruits and nuts as snacks. Fighting the urge to sleep rather than work with a clear mind is not the formula to smashing your goals! [bctt tweet=”Choose a healthy meal plan that reflects your activity levels to give you a burst of energy” via=”no”] Drop it like a squat! Exercise has proven several times over to be therapeutic, creating a positive effect on your productivity levels. Memory concentration and mental alertness are just a couple benefits associated with regular physical activity. Engaging in a regular exercise regimen promises better sleep and the regular release of endorphins -the feel-good chemicals that bring about your inexplicable happiness. Whether you choose to hit the gym, do yoga, join a dance class or play a sport, make sure your activities are diversified to avoid boredom. Make a weekly goal To increase your productivity, create and document a goal to accomplish by the end of the week. Whether you are setting targets at work, or planning expansion strategies for your new business, it is wise to set specific and realistic goals that you can reasonably achieve within the space of one week. Remember that goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Based. Create a task timeline It is extremely useful to make a list of your daily tasks and allocate time slots to each task so that you can manage your time efficiently and have productive ‘working’ time. Ensure to have short breaks to eat and rest your mind in between tasks to prevent fatigue. Tick off each task as you complete them and feel accomplished! No phone zone If you are battling a major addiction of toying with your phone, it’s probably best to switch it off completely or work in another room if you work from home. Chatting, Candy Crush and social media can all wait while you make money. Focusing only on work for allocated periods of time will increase your productivity levels. However, if your job involves the use of social media, you have to concentrate only on your current task at hand and not cyber stock people on Twitter and Instagram. [bctt tweet=”Memory concentration is just one benefit associated with regular physical activity” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Daily recap At the end of the day, recap all your tasks including the incomplete ones and others that need more research or tweaking. Recapping at the end of the day allows you time to cool off and give yourself constructive criticism, seeing how you can be more productive the next day. To really compare your state of affairs to your impending progress, try these seven tips for a week and watch out for any differences in your productivity. Remember that if you dislike your situation, you can always change it. I can assure you that there will be no turning back!
Three hacks to help you beat procrastination
[bctt tweet=”Serial procrastinator? You’ll need these 3 hacks to help you out when procrastination hits” via=”no”] We’ve all had those days. Ones where we just can’t seem to get our fingers moving on our keyboards or can’t find the words for that e-mail. Here are three hacks to helping you save time when procrastination hits. 1. Create keyboard shortcuts Spent all morning procrastinating? Save time by creating shortcuts when texting on your Samsung phone. Use a text snippet expander like the TextExpander custom keyboard to reduce time when sending those bulk e-mails. What’s the tick? Set up shorthand to stand in for a longer text. For example, if you text “eml” your full personal email address would appear. Always signing off with the same sentences? Cut out all that time by setting up a snippet. 2. Scanning business cards and receipts Make up for the time spent procrastinating by scanning your business cards, instead of manually inputting them into your Samsung phone. Save the time you spend cleaning out those nasty receipts from the bottom of your purse and the time you would spend scanning and filing them. ScanBizCards is an app from the Galaxy Apps store that lets you scan business cards on the spot. 3. Download work-related podcasts That procrastination time might as well be well spent. If you’re not going to type that e-mail, then you might as well be retaining some skills to keep you in the hustle. Use your off time to listen to business-related podcasts. Take your time to listen to a few and then pick your favourite; listen to it while you’re scrolling through Instagram or taking that 3:00pm snack break. We recommend the 500 Startups podcast; it’s filled with stories and lessons from entrepreneurs who have made that side hustle their full time hustle. Keep these three tricks in hand to make up for yesterday’s binge watch of Big Little Lies. Sponsored post
How you can use your Samsung phone to reach your goals faster
Procrastination got you down? Can’t stop scrolling 30 weeks back on your friend’s brother’s University friend’s girlfriend’s Instagram profile? Know every single pose Beyonce has done during pregnancy? Have you seen every single comedy skit on every single Nigerian comedy page and now you’re looking for new countries to laugh at? If this is you, please raise your hand. We’ve pulled together three great tips to help you keep the ball rolling even when you may want to keep scrolling. Even better they all can be done using your phone. 1. Set daily goals An oldie but a goodie. We at SLA are HUGE fans of daily goals. So much so that we have to send them to our managers in the morning with a check-in and then report back with a check-out at the end of the day. Our trick to stay on track? Before sending over our goals, we open the notepad on our Samsung phones and jot down a rough draft of our goals before sending over the final copy. This helps us stay on track to make sure we’ve got our content ready to share with you. If you forget to jot down your daily goals, set an alarm on your phone. Once you get in the habit, it becomes habitual and easier to meet them. 2. The 15-minute rule “This is a tomorrow problem”…my favourite expression. When I’m procrastinating something to tomorrow, this is what I tell myself. How do I beat it? The 15-minute rule. That tricky task you haven’t been able to get to has met its match. Take out your Samsung phone and set an alarm for 15 minutes. Tell yourself that you’ll do nothing else for those 15 minutes and get to work. You’ll find once those 15 minutes are up the ball will be rolling; you won’t even notice the alarm and keep on the task at hand. Procrastination – 0, You – 1. 3. Take advantage of your commute Ahh, what a joy, the morning commute! If that 30-minute bus ride turns into an hour, use that time wisely. Catch up on those e-mails from yesterday, use this time to write down your daily goals or start brainstorming about the afternoon’s meeting. If you keep a few tricks up your sleeve to help with those down days, you’ll be set to rise above your procrastination. Sponsored post
Should you plan ahead or just ‘go with the flow’?
[bctt tweet=”You need intention and you need to have some sort of plan with your life” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] There’s nothing wrong with occasionally going ‘with the flow’ when it comes to events that are not major. Like just deciding to get in your car and driving to wherever the road may lead you, we all need to be a little spontaneous at times! The problem with ‘going with the flow’ is not knowing where that flow will lead you. I came across a statement that said: “the trouble with going with the flow is, you might wind up getting sucked down the drain”, and isn’t that true? The danger of moving without a clear plan There are times when going with the flow feels great, the times when everything just seems to fall into place. And sure enough, there are times we have no control over situations, and we have to just go with the flow of things. The tricky thing about going with the flow is that firstly, it takes time to notice things going astray and you may fall into traps, which you could have been able to avoid, had you had a clear set plan. The second reason why going with the flow is not always the wisest thing to do is that if all you do is “go with the flow”, you put yourself at risk of losing focus and allowing yourself to settle for less than what you can achieve. You need intention and you need to have some sort of plan, which maps out how you will get to your target. Life is unpredictable and we often have to deal with things we have not been prepared for. However, planning ahead is still the better thing to do, if you have planned properly, you can always go to ‘Plan B’. Also, if you plan ahead you can usually assess the risks involved, and that may save you from unforeseen challenges. Your plan doesn’t have to be incredibly researched or very detailed but it should have some general idea on how you will achieve or approach a specific situation. It will always make it easier for you to take the next step required in your situation. A plan works exactly like a map –you know how hard it can be trying to get to a place with no directions. What would have taken a few minutes, can easily end up taking hours! The same can be said when you go through each year or day-to-day activities without any form of direction; you may find yourself circling the same place over and over again –but with a plan you have some form of direction, meaning you can go straight to your destination point without going through the same circles. Why planning is important #1 You have a clearer vision of where you want to go. #2 It makes it easier to examine the risks involved. #3 There’s no wasted time; therefore you can achieve your goals in a shorter time frame. #4 Should something go wrong, you can always move to ‘plan B’. My go-to manual for all matters of life, the word of God says: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” – Proverbs 15:22. We should never forget that there are people who have already been where we need to go. There are people who can guide you in the right direction. That’s what communities like SLA are for. So, if you have not already done so, it’s time to start making a plan about the steps you need to take to get to the top in 2017. You can’t allow yourself to go with the flow… we need to be intentional!