Consistency is Key

Consistency is Key

I am quite late for resolutions and purposely so. This year, I wanted to find a theme for my life. Something that I can apply to all my fields of interests, that will keep me motivated across the board. I want to focus on consistency. Just being consistent.

I realised that I often take up things such as gym and a few months later I fallout. To solve this I needed to understand why. For you it can be a list of many things, but I found I often take on more than I cope with and I get so disappointed when I can’t go to the gym or achieve my targets that I give up all together.

Why consistency?

It allows me to focus on the now. Too many times people focus on future results or long results, these take time and can often be discouraging to people especially during the early days. I’ve also found that I daydream a lot about future plans, and without any consistent planning of what I need to do now to get there, dreams will remain dreams.

By focusing my energy on being consistent rather than long term results I am able to shift my reward system to celebrating the little successes rather than having to wait for the end results. By acknowledging daily wins I get to satisfy my need for immediate recognition.

Here’s how I plan to achieve my consistency theme for the year:

-Planning. Very important. Can be in the form of a Google Calendar or Productivity Planner or even a to do list. I prefer apps that send me notifications. They come in handy especially when I get busy. I want to focus on getting things done, not thinking about what to do next. This also allows me not to take on more than I can chew and on the flip side actually makes me flexible when something new or an interruption comes up.

-Focus on being consistent rather than long term results: You don’t have to be extreme, just be consistent. Your ultimate goal might be too loose 5kgs, or generate a million dollars in revenue by the end of the year or even ace an exam. But we have to admit something needs to be done today to make it happen.

-Celebrate consistency: Acknowledging an accomplishment has to be one of the greatest feelings ever. Especially when it’s by me for me. Important to note, avoid enemies of progress. Don’t kill yourself doing cardio then celebrate by diving in head first in a plate of unhealthy fast food. This is counter productive to what you are trying to achieve. After a really good workout I reward myself with a great healthy fruit smoothy or fruit salad.

- Review: Set up reviews for your long term milestones. Depending on how you’d like, these can be weekly on even monthly. Find a way to do a periodic check.

Lastly, create a mantra for it. For this year, mine will be “Consistency is key”.

South Africa, The Way Forward?

It is true, South Africa has so much potential and so much to offer. With the respect I have left for some of the country’s leadership I cannot help but think, should they have managed, respected and understood their roles better the country would be at its best at the moment. It is Africa’s time to shine on many platforms and the international stage and instead of leading the way like we always have we are slowly beginning to fall behind.

I am glad the fees must fall happened when it did and how it happened. The time for armchair politics is over, as the youth we need to recognise that we need to be pragmatic in our approach to solutions and answers for our country.

What the South Africa needs is a plan. We know that Government needs to successfully collaborate with the private sector and sketch a way forward. To move from a consumer based economy to a more manufacturing and production based economy. We have already seen the power of such collaboration between private and public sectors by the amount of funds raised to support SME's in tough times spearheaded by the private sector.

Then we need to empower entrepreneurs and our startup ecosystem to flourish.

Although a lot has been done to promote entrepreneurship, South Africa still has a long way to go. Contrary to a popular scenario, entrepreneurship in the country is on a concerning downward trend according to a Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report. And simple things like registering a new business depending on who you are can be very expensive especially if you do not know how to do it yourself. 

To keep it short and sweet.

We set time frames and open windows of opportunity by easing up on the laws against foreign investment and venture capitalists to allow for financial support for small businesses and other institutions and markets that require foreign investment (With that being said, I am not particularly fond of foreign investment because no one invests without the hopes of getting capital plus returns so essentially leaving you with less than what you initially had in the first place. That is a topic for another day).

Hopefully, this allows for ease of access to funds by deserving SME’s and entrepreneurs, companies and businesses to empower and accelerate the manufacturing and production sector and relief some pressure on Government spending.

 Producing and manufacturing quality products and materials will offer our country great export opportunities. We adequately utilise funds that are necessary to ensure we see our plan through. Once there is enough capital and money in circulation, we slowly begin to tighten the belt on foreign investment wells, as a way to control the growth rate of the economy.  This will ensure that we monitor spending and use of funds and not unnecessarily inflating the economy. At this stage, we have invested enough in quality education systems and restructured it to support our economic ambitions to ensure we have enough courses and training centres to produce work-ready people available to fill the roles that have been created.

Sounds familiar? A great example of this would be the Chinese who earlier this year slowed down their economy.

Of course, this article touches the tip of the iceberg on the direction the country should be headed forward. There are many other things to take into consideration. Let me know, share your thoughts? 

Brands and Performance (Testing)

If you have ever felt like you give a better presentation when wearing an expensive designer suit, it might not be your imagination.

A recent study conducted by researchers at Notre Dame, the University of Kentucky and Penn State found that using brand-name gear can provide a noticeable placebo effect that could boost performance. In the study, researchers found that participants' performance improved by about 20% after being told that they were using a Nike golf putter rather than a no-name club.

And this effect isn't limited to the physical: the researchers also found that subjects who wore earplugs while taking a math quiz did better when they were told they were using high-performance 3M earplugs. The performance bump for this part of the study was also about 20%.

In another study in 2008, published in the Journal of Marketing Research, researchers at Duke University and the University of Waterloo found that exposure to logos can actually cause people to take on traits they might associate with a brand's corporate identity.

Similar results were found in a 2011 Boston College study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. The study found that exposure to a Red Bull logo primed test subjects to act more extreme.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/02/19/Brands-definitely-give-you-wings-researchers-say

Testing

The rise and fall of the Schnobi 

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2016/02/19/Brands-definitely-give-you-wings-researchers-say