Today is International Women’s Day and as such I would like to honor all the (professional) woman in my life, past and present, who have fueled, organized, and grown the businesses I have teamed up with over the course of my career. These women have enabled my personal and professional growth and have also allowed me to see the world through another’s eyes. For this, and the countless other ways these women enhance our businesses, our industries, our communities, and our lives, I thank them, today, and every day.
Archive for the ‘entitlement’ Category
Honor All The (Professional) Woman In My Life
Posted in Affection, Determination, devotion, Embraceable, Encourage, Endurance, Enlightening, entitlement, tagged acceptance, affection, confidence, considered, determination, encouragement, inspired, strength, Unconditionally on March 8, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Education Is A Human Right, Early Childhood Education Is Vital To Lifelong Success
Posted in Determination, devotion, Embraceable, Encourage, Endurance, entitlement, Inspiration, tagged acceptance, affection, confidence, determination, encouragement, Gratitude, inspired, strength, success, Unconditionally on June 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Imagine the 600 Million illiterate people living in the poorest, off-grid rural villages and neighborhoods in need of major change. While change began years ago with the proliferation of small home solar systems that provide energy access, today Kumbaya has laid the ground work for accessibility to not only the much-needed power and light, but also to “network connectivity’ that ensures access to the basic necessities to transform illiteracy in to knowledge. At Kumbaya, our focus is developing the technologies to ensure we have a platform that allows our user to acquire the necessary skills and basic education.
Why education? Despite great progress in the last few years, millions of children are still denied their right to education. Restricted access to education is one of the surest ways of transmitting poverty from generation to generation. Education is a vital human right. Every girl and every boy should have the right to a quality education so that they can have more opportunities in life, including employment, better health and the possibility to participate in the political process. At Kumbaya, we believe the most important period to acquire the basics are the first years. This is when we must ensure that children learn to read, count, and acquire the necessary life skills to form the basic fundaments for continued learning throughout their lives.
Children who have access to quality early childhood programs do better in primary school and will have better academic outcomes later. It is vital that low and lower middle-income nations invest more in affordable early childhood programs.
Our Kumbaya connected platform was designed for the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, those who are most likely living in rural off grid communities and affected because of a lack of electrification and connectivity. In most of these areas, the high illiteracy rates are due to non-existent or unsuitable education infrastructure, lack of trained teachers and inadequate learning materials.
We are often asked, “Why is educating girls in rural Africa your emphasis?”
Educated girls and women tend to be healthier, have fewer children, earn more income and provide better health care for themselves and their future children. These benefits also are transmitted from generation to generation and across communities at large, making girls’ education one of the best investments a country can make.
Any form of support is welcome.
Conquer Self-Doubt And Indecision
Posted in Determination, Embraceable, Encourage, Endurance, Enlightening, entitlement, Inspiration, Love, procrastination, Truth on August 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Time spent worrying – about anything – provides no emotional or physical benefit to us; such things only weaken us for the fights we must endure in our lives. “It’s not about being ready or feeling prepared all the time; sometimes you just have to do what you know you have to do. And when you do – you will always see that you’re more ready and more prepared than you realize”
How can you deal with self-doubt in a constructive way?
- Stop Making Excuses
The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do
- Beware Of Your Close Circle
Our circle of people may make us feel good, but they’re not always good for us. In fact, we could be a pawn in their game; unwitting accomplices in helping them achieve an unhealthy degree of power and influence over our decisions and actions.
- Raise Your Self-Awareness
Self-awareness can be developed. Spend some time recognizing areas you need to develop and intentionally making an effort to develop or strengthen that aspect of yourself.
So, how can you become more aware of your strengths and areas for development?
You could
- Rate Yourself: What do you think your strengths are?
- Ask others for feedback: Be open to hearing what others think of you.
- Complete a formal assessment test. These could include a personality test, discovering your values, your skills, and your abilities.
- Practice Self-Compassion
Self-compassion isn’t self-pity (Poor me, I shouldn’t feel this bad!) or irresponsibility (I messed up? Who cares!) or even self-esteem (As long as I succeed, I feel good). It’s about recognizing that feeling down is part of the shared human experience and mindfully refraining from judging yourself.
It’s important to listen, because the way you talk to yourself—especially when you’ve failed in some way—has an impact on your health, mood, and even your relationships with others. Do you admonish yourself for screwing up, or do you gently remind yourself that you’re only human and you’ll try harder next time?
Making mistakes, fumbling, and losing your cool are an inevitable part of the human experience—but most of us turn these slip-ups into an opportunity to beat ourselves up for being less than perfect. But when we see ourselves as a hopeless failure, we close our heart down to ourselves and to others.
- Stop Asking For Validation
- Trust Your Values
Reverse the Situation
Posted in Determination, devotion, Embraceable, Encourage, Endurance, Enlightening, entitlement, Inspiration, Love, tagged desire, determination, encouragement, inspired, knowledge, strength, success, Unconditionally on February 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »
At that moment when you feel chaos and collapse all around you, know and trust that you can reverse the situation.
Establish The Trigger As A Habit
Posted in devotion, Embraceable, Encourage, Endurance, entitlement, laziness, procrastination, tagged determination, embrace, encouragement, Gratitude, inspired, Respect, strength, success on December 2, 2013| 1 Comment »
Falling into bad habits like laziness, procrastination, and an attitude of entitlement.
You may recognize some of your (many) behaviors that are like this, which have a trigger which is relatively easy to perform, but cascades effort to the rest of the behavior. We can combat our human weakness by taking responsibility when others won’t. Lets start today.
If you can establish the trigger as a habit, the rest will follow:
- Exercising – Commit to going to the gym.
- Learning – Read at least one page.
- Socializing – Say hello to one person.
- Writing – Write a paragraph on any topic
Clever planning matters more than inexhaustible endurance. Invest your energy, not just in trying to stick to your goals, but in designing goals which are easier to stick with.
Embraceable Mind 