PRICE YOURSELF RIGHT

Guilt is a very complicated feeling, which is bound to return if a lesson is not learned. I too am writing this having been inspired by guilt. I wasn't aware of it until someone mentioned it at just the right time while doing a future career path analysis with me in an interview. 

I was sitting in an interview not so long ago, and one statement really hit hard and brought out a lot of guilt which made me realise all along I had been doing things wrong. "You are selling yourself short in your CV and it is very bad". That statement got me thinking and made me realise that it's not only in the CV but in everyday life. And it is not just me alone, but a lot of people out there, some of whom I know personally. We often make this mistake because we are trying to be humble. Sometimes we sincerely think that's what we are worth, but we end up being insincere. The outcome is usually that we lose opportunities. 

I wasn't going to write this, but I've realised a lot of us youth do not take such a matter seriously. We overprice ourselves on social media but when it comes to real matter we are way below market value. We focus our energy in the wrong places and wonder why we see no fruits for our actions. If we could focus the same energy we put on social media, to make ourselves attractive to business and career opportunities, we would see exponential growth in both learning and finances. On social media we never leave out the details. We make sure they know everything. But on real matters we often leave out a lot. A lot of courses, certificates, related hobbies, achievements, unique features, competitive attributes etc, are all left out. The reality is the people that can help us in those areas aren't supposed to figure it out, we are supposed to tell them. Their work is only to verify. So, if really you have something there is no need to leave it out in the details, no matter how small it might be.

However, do not lie when pricing yourself or make promises you know you can't keep or come close to achieving. This is the other reason why we sometimes undersell ourselves; we are trying not to overprice things. But to say do not overprice yourself doesn't mean you should under-price yourself. Find your right price. Sometimes it takes asking those around you to review your strength and reflecting on those answer, then sifting through it until you build a strong and solid basis. It's not going to be done overnight, but whatever effort you put into establishing your right price will determine the results. 

Go out and price yourself right.

WITH LOVE...

Mbuelo Ramafamba 

X MARKS THE SPOT

A wise man once told me, "draw an X and make sure you never miss it". But what he didn't tell me was that if somehow your X gets erased or you hit it way too many times, you have to draw another one.

This all probably doesn't make sense to you just as it didn't make sense to me when i first heard it. You have me to explain it to you. I had life to explain it. I will still leave out a bit for life to show you also. Learning and growing wouldn't be fun if you had everything explained to you.

With all that we do there are going to be exciting times and not so exciting times. Usually the less exciting times tend to go on for long. Fuelled by the lack of joy nor satisfaction, they often feel like a lifetime. But what we often miss is that these moments feast on our attention and focus. 

By focusing so much energy on how bad the situation is, you are  drawing an X over the bad side of it and aiming at it with all your ammo. You are instead supposed to be creating a target which you know will bring satisfaction and use that satisfaction to keep you motivated to go through the rest of the stuff. Often times you need not look outside the situation to find something to focus your attention on, and this usually leads to a greater solution overall. You can choose to have many focus points, but not too many, which upon hitting the X will build up together towards solving the overall problem. It's like being at a tactical shooting range training; you aim for the target, shoot then go to the next target. You have to make sure you hit the target before going to the next one. At the end of the day, you will see how much you've done by using the divide and conquer method. Just like how you eat your dinner in small chunks instead of trying to swallow down the whole meal at once. If you try that you most definitely choke. So sometimes the situation might seem impossible because of how you approach it. Make your X and make sure you never miss it, and once hit, move to the next.

Always remember that when the target is hit you need to move to the next target in order to progress. Progression is what we want, but we still want to enjoy every step of the way while we are at it. When you finish off your dinner, you do not just sit there and stare at the plate but instead clear the table and wash the plates. It's amazing how our much our daily activities can teach us a lot about focusing and shifting after hitting the target we set for ourselves, yet still driving satisfaction. Make everything a target to draw out the adventure side of it, and this way you will find great joy in achieving it. Just like how you go from preparing the meal, to eating, then doing the dishes and finally resting, the same can steps are what's needed to tackle everyday challenges. Most days you cook what you already know, some days you cook new things you've never cooked, But it's all about making that X. Set the target, hit it, get satisfaction and then jump to the next one.

WITH LOVE..

Mbuelo Ramafamba