Esteemed Magazines June-July 2009 | Page 11

Lessons best learnt @ home It’s amazing the lesson you will learn about life in the simple activities of the home. The other day we were scheduled to have a group of visitors coming to see princess and amid all the preparations that go into making a lasting impression that will not embarrass the head of the house out there, I called in for help. I needed assistance with cooking, setting the table, doing the dishes and taking care of princess at the same time. After a successful day, I went to bed tired and thinking about everything we had gone through. It was then that I realized a few things about life. I take this opportunity to share them with you and I hope you find it worthy of your reading time 1. Get in the game Watching others helps, and through watching by the sidelines, we make very good instructors and referees. However, you have to get in there and get your hands and feet dirty for any real impact to be felt over a long time. From the sidelines you may think you are learning something but unless you get into the business you ain’t gaining much. 2. Have a plan. I’m very keen on planning in general, but a time-tested recipe is a godsend. Overtime, it has been proven to me that it is always right to plan and at best, it gives you the confidence to get started. Any plan is a help and it gives folks the sense they aren’t aimlessly flailing. However sometimes we might plan for the wrong things and no matter how well the plan is executed, the end result is wrong. Imagine if people never planned for a coming baby. For nine months since conception, they have known that there will be a birth; but they do not plan for the hospital or attending doctor or clothes or house, how chaotic would it be for the new family? 3. Creativity. The plan is an outline—not a law cast in stone. The creation of a plan, implementation, revision and recreation are what constitute creativity. It is the creative lot rather than the copy cats and inflexible, who land in the world’s halls of fame. Blind devotion to any plan is downright dumb! Quiet Time Page 11 Wangari Kimani 4. Trial and errors. Agreeably, you can watch a master at work and believe that you have learnt. However when you get down to do what you have learnt through observation, you will not just make mistakes; you will make so many both big and small and in business life or real life error is the fuel that drives you. As such don’t “tolerate” mistakes or get embarrassed by them. Embrace them! How many times did Edison go wrong before fin