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40+FAB Blog

My son reminded me a couple of days ago about the importance of work coming before a reward. It seems to be an age old principle, but it is one that is effective in motivating people to strive to complete a task they accept to take on.

As we drove back from school I asked if he would help me fold the clothes and in turn get a reward of a slice of cake, to this he agreed most willing. When we got home, he asked if he could have the cake right away, and I gave it to him reminding him that when he had eaten it we had to do the chores. I waited for a bit and he did not turn up, I called and he began to give me excuses. After a bit of threatening, he reluctantly carried out his own part of the deal.

It then hit me that the purpose of a reward is to satiate the one that has accomplished a task. It is meant to come after, not before. Rarely do people actually do what they are meant to do if they receive their reward before they do it.

If what you have in your hand is a gift, then by all means give it whenever you like as it is not linked to any sort of performance. However, if what you have is a reward, then it is different and must only be released after the task for which it is earmarked has been properly done. In doing this you are not only preventing disappointment for yourself, but you are providing a source of motivation for another that could help them accomplish their best work yet.

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40+FAB Blog

Most of us have may have experienced a toxic relationship or worked in an environment where you were only as good as your positive performance. The moment you made a silly unintentional mistake, there was an immediate backlash, and you found yourself on the brink of being kicked out.

Experiencing the unfortunate cynicism and racism that was targeted at the black English players at the recently concluded Euro 2020 finals has spurred me on to encapsulate what black people in most western countries go through in the word ‘Blacklash”.

It’s tough to know you must work harder than everyone else to get a right to sit at the table. I remember talking to a friend who had taken a couple of days off work to go on a holiday with his family, as he talked about his next day back in the office I asked him, “Can’t you work from home on that day?” He said, “I am the only black employee there, it is fine for others but I don’t want to take the chance.” He was trying to avoid a blacklash.

The blacklash can almost appear like a normal backlash, but there is a subtle difference. Others may get good recognition and a reward for their hard work, while you get to keep your status quo and maybe a little something to go with it. The mistakes of others are dealt with in measured tones, always giving them the benefit of the doubt, while yours are given the full weight of punishment without leeway for an explanation.

Don’t get me wrong, the idea is not to stir up sympathy so that the black man is given a cup out even when they mess up, this is merely pointing out that everyone who is being given a blacklash needs to be upgraded to receiving a backlash which every other person is entitled to.

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40+FAB Blog

How do we achieve anything of significance? Most believe that it is only the geniuses among us that accomplish anything, however, Thomas Edison, a man of many inventions said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration”.

Everything starts from an idea, an inspiration, but that idea must go through many stages which involve work over time before it becomes a reality. But it doesn’t stop there because once an idea materialises, it needs to be circulated among the community that would use it. It is possible to work really hard on an idea and it doesn’t get very far. Many have worked on great ideas that produced great products, yet no one knew of it.

Actualisation is the whole process of making real what one envisaged would be the result of their inspiration. You must keep anticipating the outcome you desired until it comes to pass in its fullness. The hope, belief and expectation that it will do what it is meant to do is what turns the magic formula of inspiration plus perspiration into actualisation.

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40+FAB Blog

It is often said that the level of faithfulness you show while working in another man’s business will be the same faithfulness you show when you start yours.

On the surface it may seem that we have more of a drive to do our very best for our own thing and less so for someone else’s, but the reality is that our attitude doesn’t discriminate, so a diligent person will be conscientious when working for others or for themselves.

In the search for a successor, or someone who will succeed at what you are handing off, you must remember this, what determines their success is not what you hope they will achieve, but the quality of what they are doing now. Another way of saying it is, what your successor will do when they get into your position will not be more than what their current performance ability is right now at their level.

Wisdom dictates that you choose someone who is already displaying the right attitudes that are needed to fulfil the role that will be turned over to them.

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40+FAB Blog

Have you ever scrambled to complete what you should have done earlier in about a quarter of the time it really takes to do it adequately? If so, then you are familiar with what we call fire fighting. Fires usually start unexpectedly and burn unpredictably as it moves quickly, thus making it so difficult to deal with.

Contrary to popular belief, an actual fire fighter does have a plan, this involves daily exercises and playing out scenarios that could occur in a real fire. They live on high alert and are ready to move quickly to deal with an incident. In order words, they are adequately prepared daily, have long term plans, strategies, and knowledge built up over the years which help them to fight fires. They don’t just wake up and rush into a fire blindly, which is the assumption popularly made about them.

So what is your plan for dealing with the unexpected, unpredictable and swift moving pace of the things coming at you? Do you go from day to day doing what comes to your mind at the moment? Or, are you in a life long process of daily preparation, building up the skills, knowledge and abilities that make you effective at handling life?

Don’t live your life as the proverbial fire fighter who hasn’t got a plan, but rather model yourself after the true fire fighters who are always ready to respond because they do have a plan.

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40+FAB Blog

I remember when I first heard the word ‘Anthropomorphism’ – which means attributing a human characteristic to an animal, object or god – I thought it was such a big word for a simple concept we often use. We talk about the kingly poise of a lion, the cunning nature of the fox, the hardworking donkey, the gentle dove, and so on.

This concept of anthropomorphism I find reveals a characteristic of human beings that make us much more powerful than the creatures we describe. A lion can only ever be one thing and try as it may, it cannot shake off the attributes that describe it. On the other hand, a human who was as timid as a mouse yesterday can become as bold as a lion tomorrow. We can be likened to any one of those creatures and yet not be wholly defined by them because humans will change.

This brings me to another point, almost all animals gain their advantage and operate best in what is known as their natural habitat. The fish is best in water, the birds in air, the goats on the mountain, and the chetah in the savannah. Once that environment is changes, their inability to adapt or change their nature betrays them, and soon they are in danger of extinction.

Humans however have the ability to adapt and even thrive in various environments, in fact we create conditions that enable us to survive in spite of the environment. We have found a way to master the sea, fly in the sky, or create an oasis in the desert. Not only are we able to conquer our external environment, we are also able to adapt out internal environment and change the attitudes that can be used to describe us.

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40+FAB Blog

There are no merits to a long life if it is not one that is constantly improving so that its overall quality gets better. Improvement however does not come by luck, but largely by learning.

You can choose to boast about the number of your days and share your views of why things are the way they are and will continue to be so for as long as you live, or you can choose not to let a single day pass without learning something that will yield better qualities in your living conditions.

Have you learnt contentment, commitment, hard work, honesty, peace, forgiveness, love, kindness, hope, determination and expectation?

Change your motto from as long as I live to as long as I learn, for only in learning are we guaranteed to have a life worth living.

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40+FAB Blog

When one aspires to the highest public office in the land, everything about their life finds its way into the open. Their track record is laid bare for all to see. It’s almost as if their CV becomes a public document for anyone who cares to read it.

A CV is something that is usually a private document shared with those who are contemplating hiring our services. It is more than just a piece of paper, but a catalogue of what we have achieved and therefore a promise of what more we can deliver.

The higher the office we seek, the more the scrutiny given, not just to what we have written, but the bonafide references of those we have worked with, and accomplishments we have put forward. Some boast of things they never accomplished only to be found out and shamed for it. They may have gotten away with it at some point, but the truth eventually finds a way to catch them out.

Even though most of us will never come close to the office of president or any other position that demands that level of scrutiny, shouldn’t we live in such a way that we will have no reason to be ashamed of our CV if it ever gets into public space?

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40+FAB Blog

I read a report once about where most car accidents happen, and one of the conclusions was that your own neighbourhood poses the biggest threat. Why is that so? I guess it boils down to two things, familiarity and tiredness. Those two things make us switch off and become less attentive to the details around us.

Could those two reasons also be responsible for why we fail at other things in life? I remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. The hare lost the race against the tortoise because he felt he knew how to run better, and when he got tired, he decided to nap before the race was complete.

Having the right strategies to combat against familiarity with your skills and services will ensure you always stay on the cutting edge. Similarly, planning your course over time, pacing yourself, resting where necessary, and focussing when it matters most will help beat tiredness that could cause you to fail on the last mile of bringing that project to a successful conclusion.

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40+FAB Blog

One of the characteristics of living things is that they grow, but in order for their growth to be significant, they must be fed. We discover this principle to be true even with inanimate or abstract things. You have to keep feeding a fire with fuel for it to grow, or you keep feeding a student with knowledge for their understanding to grow.

One of the major nutrients for forward movement and progress is feedback. As the saying goes, what you cannot measure, you cannot improve. Feedback is a measure of sorts of how we performed in the past, and giving attention to those details help us identify areas to improve. If you are going to grow forward, then you must ensure to get feedback.

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