Saturday, October 19, 2013

INSPIRATIONAL LESSONS FROM MY BIRTHDAY

Robert Bake Tumuhaise

Earlier this week I celebrated my birthday. Normally I’m not the kind that puts a lot of thought and time into such days, but this time round I choose to do it in style because it hit me that I was making 33 years, which is the age at which Jesus saved the whole world.

Jesus’ example reminded me us that we do not necessarily need so much time to accomplish great things in this world. If in 33 years he was able to start a revolution that would change the face of the earth as we can still see more than 200 years later, why would I have to wait till retirement before I can do great things? For me it’s either now or never; I don’t know about you.

I recall how a certain friend tried to discourage me from pursuing a writing career at 25 because he thought I was too young to write what would sell. Well, I disobeyed his advice and started publishing my works. Recently when we met, we discovered that I have been able to earn from one decade of writing more than he has earned from his 2 decades of employment. No one should ever underestimate you based on your age. A serious child in primary school can do what an unserious PhD-holder has failed to do.

This same idea applies in the realm of finances as well. Age should not be a limitation when it comes to earning money because no one can be too young or too old to get rich. At any age, once someone applies the right principles of earning, saving and growing money, they will get rich.

We all know that no one can get rich without earning. So the first step to wealth creation is to try and earn as much as we can. You could be the youngest employee yet be the highest paid if you refine your skills and prove that you are more valuable than other employees in your organization. If you are in business, you can increase your income by doing better market research, improving the quality of your products, offering better customer care, employing better marketing strategies and so on. All this has nothing to do with age.

If you want to grow in wealth, after earning, the next step is saving that money so that it is not lost. And saving can be done by anyone, irrespective of their age. Even a child can save. In fact if you give your child money to go and buy two cakes and he/she doesn’t choose to buy one and save the balance begin from that point to teach him/her the importance of saving because if you don’t, know that even in future when as an adult he/she earns millions he/she might still not have enough courage to save.

And after saving, we should remember not to keep the money under our pillows but rather to invest it so that it can multiply. Just like sowing where one has to sacrifice seed and put it into the soil to die, investment also involves postponing and sometimes totally sacrificing some gratification for a future harvest. You cannot eat your seeds and expect a harvest. Likewise you cannot spend all your money and expect to become rich. It has to be planted into fertile soils of investments.

Finally, my birthday reminded me that I am not on this planet for eternity and so I should avoid pushing to tomorrow what I can do today. Jesus did not wait to first become 50 years old to start his mission. I laugh at people who wait to first retire at 60 before they can begin pursuing their passions and purpose in life.

I am very pleased to introduce to you a 21-year old Ugandan enterpreneur who has broken records by thrusting himself into the world of business and positioning himself as a business leader. Despite his age and also being a student, IAN ORTEGA, has gone ahead to create his own business empire using his strong networking and E-marketing skills. He networks with the shows and whos in this country – the likes of Sudhir, Bitature, Andrew Mwenda, and so on. What brings him on the same table with them is because he has discovered his strong points and knows how maximize them.

At a recent event that I co-facilitated with Ian at Makerere University, he made this remarkable statement: "Entrepreneurship is that point where passion and profit intersect. If you do what you don't like for money, then you've gotten yourself a headache; if you do what you like but it gives you no money, then you've gotten yourself a hobby, not a business. People pay me to send emails. People pay me to search the internet. People pay me to write. Basically, I get paid for being me..." At the next AUTHORS’ FORUM themed ‘LEADING FROM YOUR STRENGTH’, Ian will feature in the Celeb Interview and will challenge and inspire us to utilize our strengths and become leaders NOW.

To crown it all we shall have a celebrated Kenyan leadership coach, business consultant and bestselling author, ANTHONY GITONGA, making an inspirational presentation based on the day’s theme. Do you spend your waking moments trying to fix your weaknesses, forgeting all about your strengths? Anthony is going to tell you why nobody ever reached greatness by fixing weaknesses. We have to look for our strengths and maximize them.

Anthony has travelled all over Africa empowering leaders and in fact he was here recently inspiring CEOs at the Serena. I have personally interacted with him and read 2 of his books, ‘MADE FOR GREATNESS’ and ‘FOR THIS CAUSE’ and I must say it is a very rare opportunity to have an evening with such a transformational man.

The event we are talking about is the AUTHORS’ FORUM, THE GATHERING OF 400 SUCCESS MINDS, which will be happening at the National Theatre on Wednesday 6th Nov, starting 5:30pm. Tickets are being sold at 20,000 UGX and we just have a few left. To secure your ticket, the numbers to call are 0774107287 / 0414691595. And for those who come to WORLD OF INSPIRATION (Luwum Street, MM Plaza T33) today, you can buy 2 tickets and get the 3rd
FREE.

Embrace the fact that if you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be good at anything. Discover your strengths and use them to achieve your desired success.

Making Excellence my Habit!

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