When the Deal is Too Good...

Now on Connect Magazine every fortnight, and coming soon on your Kindle in early 2015..

Here's a sneak peek: Easy Come Easy Go (FREE PDF).

Other stories and articles in the 'When the Deal is Too Good' collection:

• Quailmania - Too eager to make it big in agribusiness, Josephine gets caught up in the quagmire and intricacies of quick money and supply driven business. She learns her biggest and most costly lesson in this latest fad - quail farming, having fallen for it hook, line and sinker.


• Knight in Shining Armor - A chance encounter with a self-proclaimed bad boy reveals another side of Lucy that totally shocks her. Ever the consummate prude, Lucy has always been wary of men and their machinations. She has stayed chaste for decades, and often wonders how girls get themselves pregnant. Upon meeting Fred however, she understands why you can never judge a book by its cover. How can this most enlightened and lovely knight in shining armor inflict so much pain?


• 'Angel' Investors  - Nick finally meets a tycoon who is not only open to business, but to new ideas as well. After he all-too-willingly gives his ideas away for free and they are all implemented without Nick getting as much as a mention, he realizes that ideas are literally priceless, that being too open can be very costly.


• Free Love... Not - Is there such a thing as free lunch? To many, genuine love and unconditional affection does exist. Others know better, and Prisca and Jim both find out the thing about love the hard way (no pun intended).


• Hostile Takeover - Believe it or not, the mafia are not only the people who routinely make one an offer he cannot refuse. Onyango has been making millions importing electronics, and the allure of making billions easily and faster is irresistible. What does he stand to lose anyway? ... His entire business.


• Nothing to Lose - Steve is not a fighter. He abhors violence. Until someone deliberately steps on him at the Kencom bus terminus. Eager to make the 'apologetic' tout an example to other inconsiderate fools, he quickly realizes that he is the inconsiderate fool with all to lose.


• Pro-boner - Loise needs a good family lawyer. Her wealthy husband has dared her to take him to court and hopefully set precedence thanks to the new marriage laws in the new constitution. This being a landmark case akin to those in a John Grisham novel, she engages a lawyer who is only too willing to offer services at no cost to her. Can she handle Sam's hidden fees that are in all ways extraneous to his legal fees?


• The Sound of Silence - Ruth deeply loves Leo.She keeps hoping that she won't have to one day regret having loved him. She has however uncovered something about Leo that invalidates all her love for him. Leo loves her too, but has only one foot in the door, thanks in part to once having listened to Patty Smyth and Don Henley singing that 'Love Just Ain't Enough.' Is Ruth's sudden silence loud enough for Leo to realize that she now wants out? Does she have the courage to let go and move on?


• Greener Pastures - James recently got an amazing job offer. The pay is three times better and the working environment is just to die for. Soon enough, James and colleagues who were recently poached from a competing rival multinational realize, albeit too late and at great cost, that they are mere pawns in a bitter feud that often turns lethal. Are greener pastures worth dying for?

As always, it's always good to look before you leap. So here's a sneak peek into 'When the Deal is Too Good...':
Easy Come Easy Go (FREE PDF).

Keep it here for updates.

Making It . . . Not. Dispelling Success Stereotypes

The most important things in life are not things.

At what point is a person considered successful?
Is success a destination, a process, achievements along the journey of meaning or part of a greater whole? If somebody has made it, is s/he successful, and what exactly does it mean to 'make it' or to succeed?

Is success a destination?

Success Stereotypes

A few years ago, I met with Alice, an enduring friend I got to know back in college. This was several years after we had both graduated, many months since drifting apart.

During this encounter, we took time to catch up and several of our mutual friends, their whereabouts and stations in life inevitably cropped up. "Kez is doing great!" Alice said. "She drives a big car and is married to a rich guy who imports electronics from Dubai." This went on for a while, and I couldn't help noticing the metrics Alice used to determine success.

"Imagine I bumped into Nzioka at Kencom the other day," she carried on. "Jamaa alikuwa ame-beat sio kidogo. He was catching a bus to Community, he is now a Civil Servant working with the Ministry of Health." At this point, I quickly imagined the kind of information she would volunteer about me, to other persons. "Watu wengi wa hizo miaka zetu wako poa lakini. Guys are doing well, you should see the furniture and decor at Mary's place in Kileleshwa. The rent is over 50k..." And she carried on and on.

Consumerism

Looking back at what Alice was saying, I realize that we live in a society that revolves around money - making as much of it as possible and in the shortest time, and then spending it in very visible ways - that would largely be considered successful.

Since we are largely wired to note things suddenly, and therefore overlook the time it takes and the effort that goes into things happening gradually, 'making it' has apparently taken the meaning of living relatively better off in comparison to one's peers. The operative word here is in comparison.

Consumerism has at one time been described as using money that one doesn't have to buy things that one doesn't need, to piss off people that one does not like, people who ironically, do not care about it at all.

For many people, they feel they have achieved something only when and if some money is made.
But is life all about making and spending money?

In the Season 13 episode 03 of South Park titled Margaritaville, Randy Marsh tries to explain the Economic Recession to his son Stan. Watch the clip below:



Highlighting Stan's explanation:

There's a bunch of idiots out there who weren't happy with what they had. They wanted a bigger house and, materialistic things that they didn't even need. People with no money, who got loans to buy frivolous things they had no business buying.
These assholes just blindly started buying any stupid thing that looked appealing because they thought money was endless.

The key driver of this endless spending and showing off is comparing oneself with others.

Unfortunately, despite knowing full well that stereotypes are dangerous, not many people can summon the courage to simply think differently, and thus define their own success by playing their own kind of music.

What Success is Made Of

What constitutes success?

I do not think there is a particular secret to success. Given that success itself means different things to different people in different circumstances,I strongly feel that success is a whole lot of things.

For instance, realizing several short term goals brings with it a feeling of success. Achievement in itself portrays success. Learning something new. Dreaming and having a vision inspires hope. Imagining and coming up with new ways of doing great things makes one feel successful. Creating avenues for and inspiring others to greater attainment and enlightenment is greatly fulfilling.

In line with the foregoing, success and 'making it' (whatever this means) are not only measurable through monetary means. Many elements of success are intangible. The satisfaction and ultimate fulfillment that comes with attainment are inherently of more value than money and material things.

What does success and making it mean to you?

The Science of Willpower

I have in recent weeks listened several times, to the following podcast:



It was a most interesting debate about willpower, habits, behavior change, self control, achieving set goals and more. In addition to listening above, you can download the audio (MP3, 24MB) here.

Following are some of the highlights in The Science of Willpower podcast:

12 Ways to Improve Your Willpower and Achieve Your Goals

• Reflect on What's Important to You
• Focus on One Resolution at a Time
• Start Your Day Thinking About Your Big Picture Goals
• Move From Habit to Conscious Action
• Embrace Rewards, Eschew Punishment
• Practice Your Willpower Muscle
• Stop the Negative Self Talk
• Lose the Time Expectations
• Try Meditating
• Take Your Whole Self, Cravings and All, Along for the Ride
• Delay Gratification, If Only for 15 Minutes
• Believe That Change is Possible

Read the above highlights in detail and check out comments on the program's web page on the KQED site.

As January 2014 comes to a close in just over a week's time, I hope the above will help in enhancing your self control, dispensing with entrenched habits and ultimately, achieving your goals.