May 31, 2007 at 2:00 pm (Addictions)
Many of us are addicted to something. We all have our drug of choice. For some it is pornography, for others it is alcohol or nicotine or shopping or spending or TV or sport… The point is there is most probably something in your life you just can’t get rid of, although you would love to.
I always ask myself how those with an addiction to food can join a group of people who also want to break free from that addiction and then suddenly things start to happen. They loose weight, they start to feel good about themselves, they eat healthy, etc. etc. – all benefits of deciding to join a group of people with the same desire.
Is it the desire that causes it all? Most probably not, but to change you first need the desire before it can happen. I used to be a Psychologist in private counselling practice and there I saw people changed. Those that changed had one thing in common – they wanted to, they were desperate, they couldn’t stand their current state of existence any longer. Surely there is a lot of credit that can go to ‘desire’ when we talk about change in behaviour. The stronger the desire to change the higher the probability that you would change…
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May 30, 2007 at 9:59 pm (Paradigms)
Let me tell you a story that might encourage you to understand that your paradigm determines what you see, irrespective of what you look at.
Two (separate) American shoe manufacturing companies send their top marketing specialists to investigate the market for shoes in Africa. After two weeks both of them reported back to their respective head offices.
The one’s reply read: “Don’t bother to exploit this market, no one in Africa wears shoes.” The other one’s reply read: “You won’t believe what I have found. The most unexplored market in the world. No one here wears shoes yet.
A wise man once said, “Your context gives you the picture to look at. Your paradigm determines what you see.”
No one lives in a vacuum, unaffected by a (certain) context. We all are bound by a certain context where we live, work and play. No two peoples’ contexts are alike, even if they are alike, their paradigms will differ and that will cause them to see their ’similar’ contexts in a different way.
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May 30, 2007 at 5:44 pm (Entrepreneurial)
The principles of the free-market have worked quite well for most of the Western world. Trading on stock exchanges, allowing people to do business, buying and selling, becoming wealthy, acquiring comforts and security – these are all benefits of the free trade most westerners are accustomed to.
Getting use to something and then losing appreciation for it is also a reality amongst most people. People will travel overseas to visit the museum in your city you have never visited, others will appreciate the beautiful sunsets from the hill of your village where you seldom take the time to go. Yes, it’s true, we get use to things, many things and then we don’t utilise and appreciate its wonders, opportunities and beauty anymore.
I think I am quite accurate in saying that most people are not utilising the free-market system they live in daily. In Africa we have primarily two different mind-sets. The one tend to be more “seasonal-natural”, the other more “colonial”.
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