A reader’s comments on Tyson in my last post pretty much sums up what I was going to say in the first couple of paragraphs of this fresh post. Basically the point is that whatever you think about the former heavyweight boxing champion, there is no denying that he is a survivor. He must have gone through hell just looking at what he had to do and what he told his interviewer recently.The reason why I have focused on Tyson for these articles is because his life illustrates many important lessons that we need to look at to plot our own comebacks.
Stop playing to the gallery
If you listen to Tyson you will quickly realize that one of his major problems was playing to the gallery.
He is not alone. Most people have lost fortunes just because they are busy showing off their success and in the process pride quickly slips in and they start thinking that they are gods and that nothing can defeat them. That is usually the beginning of the end.
In your comeback bid it is important to respect the success you had and it is also critical to be humble.
Ignore the gallery forever. You are not making a come-back to show people who you are. You are making the come back for you and you alone.
One great weakness I have noted in young Kenyans is that they take failure very personally and have the mistaken view that everything they touch should succeed at the first try. The result is that they will forever be frightened to try new risky things that have a high chance of failure and therefore success or getting back to the top remains an unfulfilled dream.
Listen to the wise words of the billionaire co-owner of Google Inc. Sergey Brin;
“The only way you are going to have success is to have lots of failures first.”
How are you going to make a come back when you are still warily looking up over your shoulder to the gallery wondering what people are thinking as you fall again and again in the process of your trying to get up?
But remember that the world is changing too rapidly
I know a few people who have attempted a come back by trying the same old thing again and again expecting different results. The person was trying to revive a business that went under. This is in fact the definition of insanity, that is trying the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. And yet the market had changed dramatically indeed that is one of the reasons why they had gone out of business.
What you must do is try a new approach, a new angle that appreciates your reasons for failure the last time.
Make no mistake about it the main reason why a come back is such a difficult thing to accomplish is because the ghosts of your past will not leave you alone and will constantly burden you and pull you back down.
Read part 1
Read 3rd and final part
Chris said
ReplyDelete....Most people lose it all when they are busy showing off their success and in the process pride quickly slips in and they start thinking that they are gods and that nothing can defeat them. That is usually the beginning of the end.
Wapi Mwarang'ethe?
Forget comeback for a second chris,
ReplyDeletehave you ever wondered why Kenyans drive big cars thatthey buy through bank loans (taking years to service) while their counterparts in Asia buy small economic 660CC cars and they have millions of savings in the bank?
We have been cultured to waste the little that we have through our obsession with trying to show the gallery that we have made it. The kenyan public measure of success is first the car one drives, the estate one resides leave alone the fact that one may be soaking 3/4 of their salary to afford that upmarket rent. Its until we embrace the asian culture of frugality and wise investment that Mwarang'ethe has told us many times that we can begin to either create real wealth or execute comebacks.
Lastly, ask how many Kenyans have consulted the services of a professional financial advisor including yours truly and you will be embarrassed by the result. We really have a long way to go.
PS: I am aware that most of the financial advisors are what Mwarang'ethe refers to Ivy League Fools but we still have good people out there.
@Anon 4:47 PM
ReplyDeleteI concur with you about those who are usually in the habit of misplacing ('losing') huge chunks of their hard earned fortune on servicing loans used on petrol guzzlers (SUVs) and sports cars for weekend public shows -("Look at me now!" and "I have arrived").
But look no further for their counterparts in Asia because we already have them in our very own backyards of Kenya.
There are some wealthy Kenyans who own ordinary vehicles, and others who don't even own a bicycle, let alone a pikipiki or sukuta.
Old Town, Bhagani, Kizingo, Kuze, Ganjoni, Makadara, Port Reitz, Mtwapa, et al, have its share of residents who have substantial means but lead austere lifestyles.
I am sure the same can be said of several other Kenyans based in Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kisumu, Murang'a, Nanyuki, Uasin Gishu, Kiambu, Nyeri, Kisii et al.
....Most people lose it all when they are busy showing off their success and in the process pride quickly slips in and they start thinking that they are gods and that nothing can defeat them. That is usually the beginning of the end.
ReplyDeleteWapi Mwarang'ethe?
xxx
Wacha fitina wewe.
xxx
Lastly, ask how many Kenyans have consulted the services of a professional financial advisor including yours truly and you will be embarrassed by the result.
xxx
We look forward to the day we shall have professional WEALTH CREATION ADVISORS.
NB: Finance is a PARASITE to wealth creation process. As such, when the IVY LEAGUE of FOOLS teach finance, they are teaching PARASITISM. And, a society organised to PLUNDER is doomed.
NB: 1. Thats why any time a society is collapsing, the first thing you will hear of is, FINANCIAL COLLAPSE.
Do you remember, 2008 financial collapse? Remember, 1931 and the £, remember the 1100 A.D. financial collapse in Byzantine? Remember, 33 A.D. financial panic in Rome?
2. Financial collapse is nothing, but, a signal that, the HOST, i.e. WEALTH CREATORS have succumbed to the parasite, i.e. finance.
3. Check the NEW Rome at the moment. They are discussing FINANCE, i.e. DEBT whereas, thats not the real deal. However, since IVY LEAGUE of FOOLS teach finance, thats all they can do, i.e. try to keep the parasite alive. Foolish.
xxx
Our take on this is this.
Due to bad socialisation, we fail to distinguish between MONEY and WEALTH. As a result, we chase money only to end up without any. Remember the KES 20 bn. we used to buy Kengen USELESS PAPERS?
More so, Tyson's first failure as well as his failure to stage a come back has a greater lesson we have written about before. The role of SOCIAL GROUPS we come from.
Bush II tried many businesses and failed. However, after each failure, he would come back. Why so? Did Bush II have what it takes to come back than Tyson? We say NO.
Bush II was able to stage a come back because of the ORGANIZATION and DISCIPLINE of his primary social group. In other words, whenever he failed, the ORGANISED members of his social group would pull him up.
So, does Tyson have any ORGANISED social group? We are afraid, NO. As such, our DISORGANISED social group/s is/are one of the reasons we find it damn hard to stage a come back.
However, since Africans work as INDIVIDUALS, we shall continue to fail and even find it harder to come back.
Anyway, let us continue to enjoy.
There is something WRONG, you know,
Which not even BISHOP cannot see,
If you think them a Christian,
Wait until them see a thousand DOLLARS,
Them say no hair no grow in my palm.
And when DARKNESS come down,
Them mek some ridiculous move, which,
Jah alone can understand.
http://is.gd/92tJ51
Chris,
ReplyDeleteexactly just how many regular visitors to Kumekucha have helped out in the drought and famine relief initiatives currently taking place countrywide to help our fellow Kenyans who are dying like flies due to lack of water and food?with the exception of your regulars who live in America, Europe etc
Action is what separates the men from the boys, not just mere talk of classroom theories. Let us match our actions with our words otherwise what good does speaking all the time?
Anon 2:17 am,
ReplyDeleteYou just dont get it do you?
Would you rather be given a fish or to be taught not only how to fish but also how to be a successful fish farmer.
Duct tape solutions are good now since we have to save precious lives of our beloved sisters and brothers but we should never let our eyes miss the real solution.
I want to know how I can make money very fast. Time is running out! I want to marry a Mzungu. Any idea how I can make quick bucks?
ReplyDeleteAnon 2:59AM,
ReplyDeletedonate some money as you talk
Chris, one of the best way of executing a successful come back is by listening to your heart, and also listening to what you need to hear or don't need to hear from another qualified party.
ReplyDeleteAbove all else, the most important element in any communication is to hear what isn't being said, regardless of whether one is having a conversation with themselves, friends or with tough minded (merciless) professional advisors.
PFAs can be a real blessing or leave one with a lasting personal financial curse to deal with.
ReplyDeleteSome the professional financial adivisors are worth it, while others are no better than the financial juju man or the grand money multipliers ("gramomu") of Kamanyola.
In the end, it's the money markets that end up dictating 85% of what goes around, and they are the ones who usually have the last laugh when all has been said and done.
But it never hurts to consult with the appropriate professional financial services if one is planning on executing a successful come back.
@Mwarang'ethe,
ReplyDeletePlease SHARE with us the success story that was your cosmetics biz. I hope and pray you made it BIG and all the payments were in GOLD and not paper money.
Yours must be the IDEAL biz model and all your great sermons here are all in there, ama?
You need no comeback because you are a maestro and a ginous.