What is this new thing happening in Kenya?

Something without precedent is happening in Kenya.

In just a handful of days Kenyans raised over 80 million shillings to feed their starving and dying fellow Kenyans in areas that are worst hit by the current drought and resulting ravaging famine.

On the ground many amazing tales of selflessness and sacrifice are beginning to unfold. A humble house-help with a very stretched budget asked her employers to deduct half a monthly pay and send it to the Mpesa number that has been set up in the Kenyans for Kenya appeal to raise funds for the hungry.

Others are walking to work and other skipping lunch to create donations out of their equally stretched budgets.

Now it is a little difficult for most of my readers to appreciate the struggles that most Kenyans go through to maintain sanity in their lives. I am not talking about balancing their hand-to-mouth budgets because most folks cannot dare have a cup of tea or a cold Coca Cola in town when they are thirsty for fear of creating chaos in their already unbalanced food budget.

Amazing. Kenyans have never given like this before and believe me we have had many disasters and many appeals for donations. Mostly those administering these programmes have been very frustrated and have had to beg, cajole, sell stuff give amazing offers etc. for Kenyans to show any signs of reaching for their pockets for coins to throw at them.

Not this time round. Something has changed and changed dramatically.

So what is happening now? What has changed?

These are the angry voters of 2012 I keep on talking about. Kenyans who are completely fed up with the political class. To use a very appropriate local phrase “wame-shiba watu wa siasa.” And they are expressing their disgust at the disorganization, corrupt ways that those running this country insist on keeping to. They are doing this by taking matters into their own hands and doing what leaders should have done a long time ago. Kenyans are delighted to be able to prove to themselves that they can do without the political class some of whom have been in parliament so long that cobwebs must have developed on their clothes that are stuck to the August house. And many of these characters have given the impression that life in Kenya cannot go on without them.

Folks, the stage is being set for a what I call “a blood-bath” in 2012. Don’t worry, I am not talking about the blood letting of 2007/08. I am talking about huge casualties amongst the political class and those who think there would be no Kenya without them.

Yes, the stage is being set for an outsider to enter the precincts of State House to the amazement of all and sundry. And let me warn that individual in advance that they will have a hell of a job on their hands. Mainly because the angry voters will not be done yet. By that point in time they will be so angry that what they wil demand from the fourth president of Kenya, no human can deliver.

But halleluyah because that will be the beginning of a new era in Kenya where leaders are truly servants of the people.

Golden rules you need for a come back

Many of the most sensational comebacks have been in the world of sports. I am sure you know many and I would advice you to study them very closely because the same rules apply to a come back in virtually any field or calling in life.

Let me for a moment focus on a sporting come back I am very familiar with. Diego Maradona. Down and out and literally dying as well as being a cocaine addict to boot many people believed that Maradona went to Cuba to die and not only to escape from his tax problems. But in 2005 he literally bounced back from the dead and started a successful career as a football administrator at a leading club in Argentina. This come back led to his being appointed the Argentine national soccer team coach in 2008.

But the 2005 effort was not the first time Maradona whom some consider to be the greatest soccer player of all time (not this blogger my money is on Pele) was making a come back in difficult circumstances. After sensationally winning the 1986 World Cup for Argentina there was probably nowhere else to go but down. By the time the 1990 World Cup came along he was overweight and nursing a serious ankle injury. The speed, agility and dribbling were all gone but amazingly even though he hobbled along most of the time, he was still extremely effective and made a huge difference taking Argentina all the way to the finals. The man re-invented himself completely and concentrated on his positioning and pinpoint passes to tear apart the best defenses in the world and win crucial games for his country. This confirmed his status as a soccer genius.

It can’t be done if you don’t understand “your sport” like the back of your hand

Maradona’s soccer career has some important lessons for any come back attempt. The first is that you MUST understand your business, your sport or your vocation better than the back of your hand. There are no two ways about it.

Diego Maradona would never have achieved what he did without his deep knowledge of the game. If your come back is in business then you must understand that business extremely well and that includes the rapid changes that technology has brought about in many industries.

Luckily we are in the information age and getting information to make you an expert is easy, even if you are not one at the time you begin your research for your come back effort. Find one source of information I strongly recommend for anybody attempting a come back in business HERE.

You must re-invent yourself

If you understand your vocation deeply then re-inventing yourself like Maradona has done successfully again and again becomes much easier. Let’s go back to boxing now and compare Mike Tyson to other boxers like Mohamed Ali and George Foreman. Both these men managed to make successful comebacks. They came back as slower and less fit boxers but what mattered and counted in the end was the fact that they re-invented themselves adequately to be able to make a mark. Tyson it seems is less knowledgeable and this has no doubt been a great hindrance in any come backs he may have wanted to execute. It seems that he is only one kind of boxer and has found it impossible to come up with a new tactical approach or style that re-invents his game.

Most of those who fail in their come back bids are guilty of trying to do the same old thing using the same old tactics. This will not work. You will need to completely re-invent yourself. YOU MUST to stand any chance of success.

Finally whatever happens never ever give up. NEVER. Try again and again secure in the fact that some of those who went before you and became the greatest men in their time did so after failing so many times that failure almost became their second name before they finally made it. Just make sure you learn all the lessons you need to learn from every single failure. I can sense your doubt at this last statement I have made and so I will close my series this weekend with an example.

Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the greatest presidents the United States has ever had and is still an inspiration to this day to many seeking leadership under difficult circumstances. And yet he started off with very minimal education. He had only one year of formal education in his life and then what followed were more failures than most human beings can take in two lifetimes.

List of Lincoln's failures

1831 - Lost his job
1832 - Defeated in run for Illinois State Legislature
1833 - Failed in business
1834 - Elected to Illinois State Legislature (success)
1835 - Sweetheart died
1836 - Had nervous breakdown
1838 - Defeated in run for Illinois House Speaker
1843 - Defeated in run for nomination for U.S. Congress
1846 - Elected to Congress (success)
1848 - Lost re-nomination
1849 - Rejected for land officer position
1854 - Defeated in run for U.S. Senate
1856 - Defeated in run for nomination for Vice President
1858 - Again defeated in run for U.S. Senate
1860 - Elected President (success)

Read more about Abraham Lincoln

Thanks for keeping me company through this weekend and I wish you the very best in your come back. Hang in there!!

Go back to Part 1