40+FAB Blog

I learnt a principle from the design of processes and software programmes.  The ideal outcome or “perfect world” situation was always the backbone of the design, this is also known as the “Happy Path”.
Take for instance the use of a cash machine. The happy path goes like this – you slot in your card, type in your pin, select £1000, press enter and voila! The money dances out to the tune of the machine flapping paper notes. What an awesome feeling!
Maybe your happy path is – go to uni at 17, graduate at 21, start a job immediately, marry the perfect partner at 25, have 3 children by 30, own a company at 35, become a millionaire at 40, retire at 55, enjoy amazing life thereafter. that’s great!

Though it is important to base the design on the happy path, the process or programme would never work or be considred complete without working out what was called the exceptions. The world is not perfect and things will go wrong, so what should be done when that happens?
Dealing with exceptions is all about mitigating any possible situation that would take you off the journey on the happy path and redirecting things back on track. Doing this made the happy path not just a fantasy, but a reality. So you didn’t own the company at 35, and retirement looks more like 65. What are  your readjustments to still enjoy that amazing life?

Work out how to deal with the exceptions to your happy path and build the necessary detours from those back routes back onto the happy path.

40+FAB Blog

So I am out jogging again, its quite early in the morning and the sun is still hidden below the horizon but a very faint orange light slowly creeps up into the sky.
It is dark and I can barely make out the tracks on which I am running. As the time goes by and the sun rises, I begin to notice a very faint shadow of my frame cast on the field, it is hardly distinguishable from the rest of the darkness.
As the dawn breaks and the darkness fades, the only remembrance of the night is my shadow chasing me around the circuit.

We liken the light to what exposes truth and the darkness and shadows to doubts or what conceals it. “Beyond a shadow of doubt” is an expression used to convey that something is of utmost truth or authenticity, however, in the presence of light, a shadow validates the substance of a thing. The fake points to the real, the counterfeit calls out to the original.
Sometimes, there is a need to start working  on your life’s goal in a place of darkness where no one notices any progress you are making, but be sure to hang around long enough to cast a shadow when the light shows up.

There is an African proverb that says “It doesn’t matter how long a lie has run for when the truth wakes up, it overtakes that lie”. 
Don’t be afraid to keep working in the darkness or shadows for the darkness will give way to light and the shadow will outline the powerful results you have created.
Go and cast a shadow!

40+FAB Blog

Ok, so the first thing to consider is what exactly is the game?
Secondly and just as importantly is understanding that the desired outcome is to win in the game.

Former heavy weight boxing champion Iron Mike Tyson was quoted as saying “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”.
At that point, I guess the best laid plans fly right out of the window as the victim comes to terms with the impact of the iron fist.

When the strong punches of life hit, don’t go scrambling to pick up the pieces of your game plan, instead remember the outcome, buckle up and stand.
If you fall, get up again and stand. Once you get your breather, pick up the game plan and go back fighting harder knowing that the plan is only a means to the desired outcome – “I win, I win”!

40+FAB Blog

I am working on my fitness goal and so I went jogging this morning. As I circled the football field a couple of times, I started feeling breathless and wanted to stop and catch my breath. I had only been going for about 5 mins but somehow remembered that about 30 mins of moderate physical exercise daily is what the experts encourage to realise any meaningful result.

With that in mind, I pushed past my original feelings and pressed on. As I made that decision, my body slowly responded and I caught a second wind. I couldn’t help but notice the lusciousness of the green grass on which I ran and as I increased the number of laps, I began to notice that a trail was slowly forming revealing the path on which I trod.

My aim was not to make a mark but rather to reach a meaningful goal I had subscribed to.

People who made a mark did not start out intending to do so. They rather had a purpose and vision of a worthy future which they sought to bring into reality. As they kept at it overcoming various obstacles along the way to arrive at their desired goal, it was soon noticed that they had blazed a trail and made a mark.

You have to stick to your purpose mentally until it creates a path in your mind that cannot be ignored. As you consistently act on it in your daily life, you will soon discover that you have made a mark with your life that will not go unnoticed.

40+FAB Blog

The ability to stick with doing the same thing at the same time daily, weekly, monthly or yearly seems to be the simplest thing to do, yet one of the extremely difficult disciplines with which most will struggle.
Keeping that consistency is a mental muscle that needs to be developed. 

A routine is sometimes mistaken for a habit but it is much more than a habit.
A habit when developed causes you to subconsciously do the same type of thing when prompted. 
A routine however is like the prompt that triggers your habits to kick in. 
A habit is ability that has been honed to produce a result but a routine creates for you the space and time to produce that result.

So, what is the habit of a creator? well, as the name suggests I believe the habit is to create. In the story of Genesis also known as the story of creation, we see The Creator exercise the habit of creating in the morning and in the evening. This is done everyday until the creation set is complete.

If the all powerful creator had this routine, then I suggest you need to find that routine which will profit your habit.

40+FAB Blog

As another year is added to my life I am more unsure of why I ever needed to be apologetic for who I am and what I believe.

Who I am and what I believe is a point of view, an invisible framework by which I make sense of and navigate this world.

Who I am and what I believe is not an offence, it is not a statement of war, it is not a confrontation of anyone else’s point of view. It is my most fundamental and universal human right.

I am alive

I am here

I am unique 

I am intelligent

I am capable

I am endowed 

I am blessed 

I am a child of God

I am …

I believe in Truth

I believe in God

I believe in good

I believe in justice

I believe in the rights of humanity

I believe we are all created equal 

I believe in responsibility

I believe…