CHANGE
Change Is Permanent
By Lizzie Chege
Spoken like a true activist , all for change and transformation . Thinking of its inevitability you know what I mean ? Here ' s a question for you , when did you last think you are the only one who can change something for the better ? Each and every day ? Yes , sure , for some of us , for others not really and we are okay with things as they are , Right ?
Wrong . With every starting day , change is all around us and more so in the Business environment . We wake up to new ideologies and mechanisms on how to grow our businesses and perhaps even improve how we run them all so that we can see them flourish and change into dynasties , or even monopolies .
I know for a fact all business owners and all entrepreneurs have this " monopolizing the market " at the back of their minds hidden in a little disguise of making the world a better place for everyone . However , with the current trends in their world partnerships and collaborations seem to be more and more popular . Take for instance the digital scene , we keep seeing collaborations working better than competition and this is the kind of permanent change we will keep seeing over and over . Eventually the businesses that collaborate will see themselves become part of bigger dynasties and not monopolies per se but they will find themselves getting back more than they bargained for and reaching places they hadn ' t seen themselves in their 10 to 20- year plan supposing they had even thought that far ahead .
The permanent changes are not only in the business environment , look at the weather for instance , given an option between warm and cold weather in an environment where you may need to grow crops or head out to an office , you and I would be wise to pick one depending on what your end goal is . So even without choosing , we do choose and the change comes either way . Be wise when choosing and when you do , only then can you be prepared for what ' s coming .
And don ' t get me wrong , not many of us want to change a status quo that works especially if it pays the bills so to speak , however without accepting change and making it our own we fail not just ourselves right now , but our future selves too . My Hero , Kenya social , environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize , a woman who did not just want the change but made it , Prof . Wangari Maathai , may she rest in eternal peace , said many great things but the one that has stuck with me is and I quote " the best time for planting a tree was ten years ago the next best time is today " symbolizing the change not only for the day that is but also for the days to come . She understood that to change we must choose and not all choices favor us , some of the choices we make end up making us seem weak , but in the long run we learn how to live with our choices . And it all boils down to our own selfactualization doesn ' t it ?
Our lifestyle choices , our neighborhoods , our careers , our friends , and to some extent our families . So it is safe to say it out loud , change is the only permanent thing in our lives I mean , it has always been but we were only too scared or ignorant towards it , it is also the only constant thing over time and will continue being the only constant thing even for a gazillion years to come .
Speaking of years to come are you ready to make the changes needed for you ? Actually , not just for you , for us to have a more productive and successful last half of the year 2021 ? Since we already know the trends in business with mergers and collaborative effort between companies , are we prepared to go the distance and see us actualize the visions we state with pride and honor ? I ' d say it would be a great first step towards owning the changes we want to see and perhaps become .
The buck stops with you , supposing you were placed between a wall and a hard place on matters of your life how would you fair in it ?
Just recently we ' ve witnessed friends , colleagues and family have to choose between a well-paying job and putting food on the table for the family , what works comes with excitement to them . Doing odd jobs and living hand to mouth so to speak , just to see them through another day .
These choices have made them stronger and their decision making skills have shocked everyone around them but they have managed to stay afloat . We have also seen mergers that killed brand names which have been in the market for years all for survival , growth and expansion on a different level of change . We have seen rebrands and overhaul change overs of other brands . Some of these actions have led to lose for some business and more traction for others . Without fail these Brands have pulled through all the changes owning them and emerged better from them .
Lizzie Chege is a Business Development Lead at JamboPay , working in the e-commerce space . You can commune with her via email at : Chegelizzie @ gmail . com .
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