Why you should not make new year's resolutions

I was the biggest New Year Planner. Always planning to eat better, work harder, exercise more. For some reason, I never fall through. The truth is that you don’t need New Year, a new month and not even a new week to make a decision and work towards it from day one.

How many times have you made your New Year’s resolution, pumped up at the beginning of January but as you were approaching another month, those big dreams and goals seem to disappear? Why so many people but their biggest hopes for the next year when they can start and thrive right away?

Since most of the world put so much importance on the New Year’s resolutions it isn’t funny; I have for you 3 reasons why you should forget about those plans for a  next year and start hustling now.

1. Time is the only limit

Your potential, resources or possibilities have no limits. The only limit we all have is time and once wasted, we can never take it back. Why would you throw away the entire December when you can already start taking action and move forward? Procrastination killed many dreams because people were always waiting for the right time, right person or opportunity. There is never “right” time, person, etc. The time is now, and that is the only thing you need to remember.

2. You will get overwhelmed

How do you think your mind is going to react when you let it totally rest for some time and then you put enormous pressure on it with every little thing you want to change or improve? More than likely, you will get totally overwhelmed, frustrated and quit before you even started since the number of tasks to handle will seem impossible.

3. If you are waiting too long, you may miss your chance

I am not trying to scare you or destroy your hopes, but sometimes, if we wait too long, we’ll wait forever. Chances are all around you; they aren’t some special events which show up when the midnight hit 2017 and ball of "good luck" dropped at your doorstep.

Instead of focusing on the awesome year 2017 we all believe is going to better than this one, start planning and taking simple steps now. Enter the New Year with motivation, already in progress and a clear vision of how this year going to unfold for you.

Conclusion

The reality about New Year resolutions is that people don’t want to change and that’s why they tied their goals to some future event. Before you hate me for what I just said because you already have a full list of your New Year’s resolutions since January 2016, let’s think about it.  If you want to make a decision and change your life, you just do it. It is simple. You don’t need to wait for some special occasion because you are confident about yourself and what you want. This state of mind will only excite you, and you start acting right away. If you are unconsciously refusing to change, there are one and million reasons to procrastinate and the New Year seems for many people as a great opportunity.

I am not here to judge you since I have made this mistake a thousand times. I am here to tell you that New Year’s resolutions suck and why you should quit with making any. Time is priceless, stop wasting it and start hustle. There is too much of a value and potential within you to wait around for some New Year to give yourself permission to act. Do it now!

Business Fatigue?

Take time off to unwind! Heal the fatigue

WHAT IS FATIGUE?
Fatigue is a mental state of being tired and weak.

Starting a business is very exciting work. However, the business can sometimes die in the hands of the very person or people that started it. The reasons are explained before, so as you read, ensure that you avoid making the mistakes mentioned below.
Most small and medium enterprise owners tend to do every business task by themselves for long hours. This is partly because the cost of employing more and extra workers to reduce work load and ease work is very high and not sustainable for most small and medium enterprises in Uganda.

This makes entrepreneurs quickly tire, makes them stressed and as a result they end up lashing out at valued clients, missing out critical datelines, causing customers to lose valuable time and the business owner to incur unnecessary costs as a result of fixing fatigue errors.

WHAT IS FATIGUE?
Fatigue is a mental state of being tired and weak.
How can a business person tell that he or she is fatigued? It is important to ascertain the way that the business owner is executing his or her duties and find out the following:
Is that person,
1. Not paying attention to client needs?
2. Directing anger unreasonably at colleagues?
3. Resisting change?
4. Overlooking small and important business details?
5. Doing completely nothing?
6. Dodging decisions?
7. Being forgetful and cranky?
That person may be fatigued.
A person who is operating under fatigue may be more harmful to the business than beneficial. Therefore it is more important to identify the problem and come up with a solution, whether you are the business owner or an employee who notices your boss is fatigued.

HOW TO OVERCOME BUSINESS FATIGUE
1. Look for business aspects that do not require expertise such as mailing and get assistant.
2. Take good care of your self
3. Take some time off, maybe a day. You can also take a periodical break, for example once every month take a 3 day weekend to refresh yourself (if you are the business owner)..
4. Always have enough sleep
5. Distribute work strategically outside your skill set (if you are the business owner) and trust employees with more responsibility.

A country killing itself: the tale of Agriculture in Uganda.

The author is a start-up agripreneur in Uganda!

It is possible for Uganda to get out of poverty, just like many other countries have done. 

The gist of his thesis is that if we built infrastructure, provided information, technology, schools, health and credit to the people, poverty would be a thing of the past.

However, you may wonder why the poverty situation in Uganda remains the same even when the government has -in most part- provided the parameters i have mentioned!

On the whole, however, Uganda has no excuse to remain poor.  In fact Uganda can even do better than the Chinese, who moved 300 million people out of poverty within ten years.

The Ugandan Government considers agriculture as the cornerstone for socio-economic prosperity. Agriculture is placed at the helm of all national development blue prints; vision 2040 and the NRM government manifesto among others. There is established a “wealth Creation Department” within the government headed by Gen. Salim Saleh – just to give weight to this sector!

 With our state of economy, agriculture will for many years to come remain key to ensuring food and nutritional security for Ugandans, mostly small-scale farmers who draw a living from it. It is also a main propeller to our industrialization (as we await oil exploration and explitation) by virtue of being the principal wellspring of raw materials, thanks to the adoption of modern farming technologies. All these success stories about agriculture become more real only with favorable policy framework.

 Uganda, like many other countries, is faced with the challenge of increasing population and rising competition for agribusiness both in the regional and international arena. Meeting this would mean breeding a crop of young farmers who will in days to come fill the gaps left by aging farmers considering that the average age of a Ugandan farmer is 65 years. Basically, agriculture is practiced by pensioners! A retrospective follow up of these “young farmers” depicts the policy injustice that the Government is doing to this golden sector.

 Causal notification uncovers that the formal platforms, more so in the primary and secondary institutions, for the dissemination of farming techniques to the “hope of tomorrow” are either breaking down, inadequate or lacking trainees as a result of the emerging socio-economic challenges.

By nature, human beings will only pick what is perceived to be important. It may be a shock that agriculture education may no longer be a single entity subject in secondary schools, as it happened in primary school. This is imminent. There is a decline in the number of students taking agriculture in secondary schools, where it’s also an optional subject. Now is it really logical for a system to function without a spine?

 The negative discernment that agriculture does not compete equally in the job market could be one of the major reasons. The subject itself is downplayed by both parents and students, who by their gender and social upbringing opt for the ‘marketable subjects’. Agricultural programs in schools are stereotyped to be primarily for the males. How practical is it that a kid raised up in the city will pick up agriculture after school, which throughout their education has been an option? Their parents, who by default are the role models, do not practice agriculture.

 An ‘enterprising parent’ would rather use theirs plots available to establish a real estate rather than use it for agriculture. Those with interest lack the adequate exposure to the practical aspects of the subject, with teaching increasingly becoming superficial and exam oriented. Consequently, for a long time, there hasn’t been an effective way to integrate secondary agricultural education with most of the lucrative courses that are offered in the universities, which almost all the students are nowadays struggling to pursue.
As such, it would be more appropriate for guardians, educators, contrivers and policy makers to encourage agriculture education right from primary school.

 To develop self-dependence, problem-solving abilities and resourcefulness, learning agriculture will occupy students with activities that direct them to various agricultural ventures which may not exigently require high capital to head start, but significantly boost the economy. Agriculture can never flourish in isolation; increasing budgetary allocation for research may make it regain the lost glory.

I don’t think people in Europe got handouts in order for them to innovate and eliminate poverty. We would therefore greatly enhance this conversation by suggesting how we can create value in our people without paying them to be helped.

I have noted with gratitude that some of my readers make very constructive comments.  This form of crowd-sourced solution is what will lead to a sustainable solution, and I urge them to please let us continue thinking together.

Share this article to the corridors of power. All stake holders and law-makers need to support agriculture - it is the only way out of poverty for the multitudes.

Kenya: Food security still threatened

Large-scale controlled agriculture is a sure way to achieving food security

Thrilled by Zimbabwe government ( Zimbabwe: Metal Silos to Cut Post-Harvest Losses Unveiled) I had to reflect on what is happening here in Kenya. There are some very interesting plans though.....Example being the "Gala-Kulalu Food Project at the kenyan coast in which the government has set aside in the fiscal year 2014/15 USD 42 Millions to put 80,000 acres of land under irrigation....this is just but one part of the larger government plan to reach food security.

The government has indicated that Irrigation/technology is and will be the only bridge to the ever-increasing gap in food insecurity. According to the Office of the Deputy President and the Ministry of Agriculture, In the next 4 years, irrigation will ensure part of land that has over decades not be cultivable 500,000 acres will be put under maize, 200,000 under sugarcane, 150,000 acres under beef and game, horticulture, dairy farming and fruits will each take a share of 50,000 acres.

The plan is so noble that every Kenyan may now rest assured that there will never get a time we have such initiatives to help drought ravaged Kenyans in the North of the country like we had in 2011 dubbed "Kenyans 4 Kenyans". This, with conservative figures indicating that we would have lost about 3.75 Million Kenyans that year, thanks to the Kenyan spirit embraced then, driven by Safaricom and other corporate entities.

Back to the story of noble Kenyan government plans to see over 1,000,000 acres of land under irrigation, Post-harvest losses still dares the noble idea. One will be forgiven not to flash back to 2005. Then, under National Alliance for Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government, food security became number 1 priority. Here, even the driest of dry areas in Kenya (e.g.Makueni district in lower Eastern) soils bowed to heavy production but after the bumper harvest, most of the maize was declared unfit for human consumption due to high levels of aflatoxins. This was replicated in other areas like the Bura Irrigation scheme etc. from this past experience, Kenyan government should have put up succinctness measures like ensuring the Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) moves with times putting in mind the projected annul grain requirement by 2020 to hit 5.2 Million tonnes.

IFC have in the last year convened seminars and workshops like the last one funded by Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to discuss matters on how to revitalize the SGR. Thanks to such initiatives the government in the Fiscal year 2013/14 waived all taxes related to import of equipment and technologies for use in Post-Harvest losses reduction. This is done in a bid to encourage private participation in investing in this area.
 Although the treasury is yet to release guidelines on the same, it points out to the right direction already. Such initiatives should be encouraged and the government too should continue with the plan to build/increase/expand the current Food Holding Reserves all over the country. Wrangles and corruption almost crippled one of the National Cereals and Produce Board in the country and this in turn has led to most farmers quitting or reducing their production units.
time to re-focus!

Sorry babe, I need space!

What’s going on in a man’s mind when he says he needs “space”?

What necessitates the need for "space"?

So he needs space, is that code for “it’s over?”

Perhaps it’s simply a hot-and-cold act: when you give him space he comes back, and when you get too close, he goes and finds his space. 

This behavior can be very frustrating. What’s going on in his head? What should I do? Should you even put up with this kind of behaviour?

Sounds familliar? Ahem! Here is how to navigate the "I need-space-man syndrome":

YOU WERE NOT CLEAR
What went wrong here is that you failed to make clear what was acceptable behavior early on. In fact, by allowing your guy to stick around for as long as you did, you showed him just how much he could get away with.

Don’t blame anyone else but yourself.

SET PARAMETERS 
Men will adhere to the parameters that you set.

When men first get involved with a woman, they are constantly testing and finding out how much they can get away with. That means it’s entirely up to you to show them where the boundaries are.

It’s the same thing with men and their mothers. If a guy’s mother showers him with love and affection, and doesn’t ask anything in return, this is the dynamic the mother will set up for the rest of their relationship. Then the mother wonders why her useless son never helps out around the house or surprises her with gifts. It is because he knows that he can get away with that. He always has anyways!

You’ve allowed him to completely call the shots in your relationship; you let him choose whether it was on or off, and always allowed him to come back in when he wanted you back.

So very early on he learned that your boundaries could easily be compromised, without him having to actually go to the trouble of changing his indecisive ways when it came to commitment.

He’s learned that he can get away with it.

FIX IT DARLING

You have to make him feel that if he wants all the fun of being with you, he’ll have to commit fully.

You don’t have to get all angry and pissed-off with this. Gradually back off from him and make sure that you are very sparing with how much time you give him. 

However, for effect, ensure that the short times you spend together are incredible, and have as much fun as possible. That way he sees that if he wants to have that amazing time with you and be a significant part of your life he will have to commit more.

By not giving him much time, you show that you’re not willing to emotionally invest in someone who is only messing around with you.

 How you react to his behavior will guide how he defines his relationship with you. So start early.... but its never late to turn arround an otherwise sour relationship!

How it works: Accidents!

It is unfortunate that we have let society dictate that corruption has the final say on who is at fault when you are involved in an accident! That is not right and should not be the case.
This is how is works;

Dont rush to get out of your car

First, your car needs to be immobilised before you leave the controls. Otherwise, you may worsen the situation and increase your repair bill, something you auto insurance provider will not like. Secondly, you should be wary of gangsters who cause minor accidents in order to rob other motorists. The only exception to this rule is if there is another immediate danger such as an open fire or smoke coming from any of the cars involved in the accident.

Check if you are alright

Check for signs of blood, and for any pain that may indicate a fracture or soft tiytssue damage. If you have knocked your head, beware of a concussion. Any signs of dizziness mean that you need to get quick medical attention.

Put your hazard lights on

Before stepping out of your car, shut the engine, apply the handbrake and put on your hazard lights.

Make contact with the other driver

Realise that the other driver is also tense, and how you make contact will determine whether you end up with a shouting contest or an amicable solution. Whether you feel you are not to blame, do not spook the other driver. First, show concern for the driver and the safety of his passengers before talking about the car. If he needs urgent help, you are best placed to facilitate it. If you are the culprit, your third party cover from your motor insurance provider is meant for the benefit of other road users.

Place the Lifesaver on the Road

If the accident is serious and it is clear that the cars will be on the scene for a while, then place lifesavers on the road to warn oncoming drivers of the accident. Failure to warn oncoming drivers can lead to a compound accident. This will complicate how your motor insurance company handles the situation.

Assess the damage

Carry out a quick assessment of the damage to your car. Do not assume that because the impact took place at a low speed the damage on your car is minimal. Check for cracks on lights, dents and any leaks coming from your car. If the damage is minor, and you think there’s no need to involve your motor insurance provider, negotiate with the other person and if you agree, let it rest.

Call the Police

If the situation is beyond what you can handle, call the nearest police officer. The police officer will assess the damage and will determine who is at fault. Do not move your car before the police officer arrives, and get in touch with your insurance agent for further advice on what to do. It may be helpful to take photos of the accident scene before the cars move. Scan the general area to confirm that it is safe for you to wait there.

Report the incident to Your Motor Insurance provider

Once you have all the information you need from the scene, report the incident formally to your motor insurance provider. Based on their assessment, a decision will be taken on whether you can drive to the nearest authorized garage, or whether you will need a tow truck to move the car. The insurance company will also send an assessor to determine the value of damage to your car.

Fill a Motor Claim Form

This form is your formal application to the insurance company to settle your claims based on your policy. The insurance company considers your application and set in motion the process of compensating you. After you have filled the motor claim form, you send it back with required attachments such as a copy of the motor claim form, a police abstract, and a copy of your driver’s license. If in the assessment of the insurance company your car is damaged beyond repair, then the insurance company will write it off, and pay the claim. Otherwise, it will issue the authority to repair the car if the value of the damage is less than 50% of the insured sum.

What insurance company will need

Drivers License Details

Always remember to collect the driver’s license details of the other driver when you are involved in a car accident. One of the things every auto insurance company wants to be certain about is that every claim they handle result from legal usage of motor vehicles. In this regard, they like to be sure that the drivers were both legally on the road. Apart from that, it is important to have personally identifiable data from the other driver to facilitate the claims process.

Insurance Policy Details

Write down the policy details on the other car’s insurance cover. If the other driver is on the wrong, his insurance company should compensate you for the accident. In this regard, your auto insurance company will need the policy details to process the claim from the other insurance company. Getting this policy number and the insurance company that issued it also adds another layer of information that can help to identify the car in case of any eventualities.

Service Number of Police Officer

Also get the service number of the police officer that comes assess the accident. Each policeman has a service number usually pinned on the lapel of the jacket or on the shirt pocket. This serves to prove that the matter was reported to the authorities and blame was assigned based on this. This number, alongside an incident report should be linked to the base station where the traffic police officers operates. Getting the details right makes the claims process easier for you.

Vehicle Registration Number

Don’t forget to note the registration number of the vehicles involved in the accident. This number can be used to trace a hit and run car. In many cases, it is the only information you can get from a car that refuses to stop after getting an accident.

Social networking: How to do it effectively!

“If it wasn’t for effective networking, I probably wouldn’t have started my business venture; neither would I have prospered,” I hold this statement true and important to me and mine.

In essence, networking is interacting with people to exchange information and develop contacts, especially to further one’s career and business referrals.

The world is not an island, you cannot have a thriving career or business without the help of others, which is where networking comes into place.

Do you know the impact that effective networking has on your career development? here is how to do it effectively;

1. Always be ready to network

Networking sessions shouldn’t be confined to arranged business meetings only, it can even be by the roadside as you wait for a cab, or as you catch a bus home.

Being mentally ready of the unseen opportunities surrounding all of us, one can meet their next big help. “Never assume the cab driver or the watchman, he could know someone who needs the type of service or the kind of qualifications that you have.”

2. Invest in your looks

Whoever you are and whatever you do, ensure you look the part. Ensure that whenever you go into a business meeting or a place you expect to meet people you make a good impression by dressing the part. Therefore, wear a good suit if the meeting is formal.

3. Always have your business cards

A business card says who you are, what you do and how you can be contacted. You may make a very good impression on people you meet during networking sessions, but if you’ve got no business cards, then you might become easily forgettable.

“A business card is especially essential when it comes to making the first communication after the initial meeting. This is because it mostly contains an email address which is the right way of contacting someone for the first time. On that note, do not call or WhatsApp a person you intend to pursue a professional relationship with at first, preferably, email them, unless they request you to call them,”

4. Don’t wait too long to contact them

How long should you take to contact a person you met through a networking session?
 “During the first 48 hours, after that, it communicates the message that, that person was not all that important. On the other hand, the person might have even forgotten you. To ensure you create a lasting impression, make the initial contact as soon as possible.”

5. Polish up your social media accounts

The easiest way of networking these days is through social media. Social media has made people who are in real life inaccessible, accessible. Therefore, if you are eyeing to establish a professional relationship with someone online, ensure your various profiles speak for you.

“The best way of doing this is ensuring you separate you accounts. For instance, if you choose Twitter and LinkedIn as platforms where you promote your brand – as an accountant, a journalist or a techie- ensure someone can see your passion in your field by scrolling through your profile. You can use other platforms, preferably using a different name, to show a different side of you.”