Even when its not easy

If all it took to be success was setting goals then we would all have what we want. We all want things and we all make plans to achieve them. But even with the best of intentions , sometimes life happens.

When reality doesn't meet expectations its certainly becomes easier to let go than to persevere. It becomes easier to believe that you are not worth as you believed, even believe that the universe is playing tricks against you. It gets a lot harder to feel positive.

As much as those are undesirable they are truly instrumental to growth. It is a waste not to learn from them. It is from disappointments that we discover what we truly want and focus on it, it is from these moments that we decide how much effort we are willing to put into it.

See its easier to set goals on New Years' because of the holiday high. Its easier to believe when life is going great. Its on paper than in reality. Its easier said than done. It sounds easier for other people than for ourselves. Its easier for obvious reasons.

Truth is life is noisy and messy, shit happens for no particular reason. A lot of things are out of our control. The best we can do is do our best. When it gets difficult make that cup of tea, whine on social media, cry if you want to, whatever it is that will get you through .In the end be grateful you are alive and take your lessons to the next plan.

Throw in some more.

Happy New Year!!

Hope you enjoyed the festive season. I sort of did, I was in a remote village in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania where I couldn’t get mobile network and subsequently internet connection… the perfect getawayJ.

I haven’t been blogging for a while so I take this opportunity to update you. I’m now a final year student (Yaay!). Too many feelings about it, happy that’s it’s finally going to be over, scared because I’m not sure of what I want to do next. I have been thinking about this for a while now but it’s never been more real now, I mean a career in academia sounds very appealing to me, I have lots of experience in it and not to mention the travelling involved in research, then there is industry I definitely know corporate environment is not for me but a start-up environment is also an option I’m considering. To add to that corundum I have been reading Richard Branson’s books lately and I have to admit that I’m seriously considering entrepreneurship.  One of my new year’s resolutions is to figure that out.

Speaking of resolutions, my take out from 2015 is simply be Bold. If something itches you, just do it. Throw yourself in with no reservations. It may or may not work out but doing it is an accomplishment in itself. I throw myself into a lot of things last year. Participated and applied to programs that I honestly I thought I had no chance in. I failed in some, wallowed in disappointment for a while and life went on anyway. I also won some won an award for APL, won the star Google Student Ambassador award, won some school awards, went to the Womeng Conference, was listed in the top ten in Happiness Apps Contests, went to Grace Hopper again, got elected as President of the Women In Computer Science Society, fundraised a substantial amount for the society ,got 5 internship offers and more. At a more personal level I learnt to unclutter my mind, and consistently woke up at 5:30 am to go running, started amateur photography here among other things. Well, am not bragging (neither do I like to) but I surprised myself and so can you. Just do it, whether or not it will pay off is not entirely in your control, play your part and surprise yourself.

Remember when I said I wanted three things this time last year? Well, I got them, all three of them. I wanted a peace of mind, to travel and of course academic success. I got more than I bargained for which is why my list this year will be extended to five. 2015 wasn’t my best of years but it was a good one. Let’s make magic in 2016.

Happiness is catching a butterfly.

Follow it ,
Don't stop until you have caught it,
Turn left as it does,
Turn right as it does,

Its not a bird, birds fly too high,
Its not a snake, snakes are up to no good,
Harmless and beautiful,aim for the butterfly,
Start with a butterfly, just like in your childhood,

Don't be swayed, don't be distracted,
Act smart, don't scare it away,
Your patience and determination will be tested,
Focus on the task, don't stray,

People will wonder,
People will call you mad,
People will question you,
Get angry, but don't stay sad,

Once you have caught it, embrace it,
Congrats , that's sucess,
Don't get too caught on thinking what to do next,
What you are feeling right there , that's happiness,

PS:This post could be a  inspired poem or more importantly humble show off of my budding photography skills..;). Either way  Enjoy!!

We were all once babies.

You know those people who appear to be naturally good. You could wake them up at midnight and they will know their stuff. Sometimes it seems that no matter how hard you work you'll never be good enough. You probably know that its not true, but the world we now live in subconsciously tells us otherwise . Effort seems to be underestimated these days. Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook we call him a computer nerd, Kenyans run so fast, we say its in the food they eat. Good students perform well we say they are born smart. Talent is equated to magic and if you don't have it, look elsewhere or you are doomed.


I have to admit that I have fallen to this trap sometimes, passing on opportunities because I thought I wasn't born with it. Upon reading Malcom Gladwell's Outliers you may say I'm less intimidated. Malcom speaks of the 10000 hour rule, where he emphasizes that you need at least 10000 hours to be an expert at something, anything. Almost all outliers have put in at least these hours, whether they had natural talent or not. Perhaps talent makes it easier to dedicate that much time but in many cases, dedication is enough to defeat natural talent.

Since 2008 Usain Bolt has been breaking his own record, earning the title of the fastest human alive.
He obviously trains a lot but  articles such as this have been written , coming up with contradictory facts about how much height and "twitch muscles" are the reasons for his success. This video clearly shows how much time he is dedicating to self improvement.

I understand where these claims are coming from. We humans are inherently insecure, we try to make for what we don't have by attributing it to something that is beyond our control. Its understandable but we have to be mindful of how we are belittling other people. We were all once babies, at some point we all knew nothing, the stars we have today just put in more hours to their craft.

 The secret? Shut your ears and eyes an look at your plate because in the end its what really matters, literally.  Practice a craft you are not comfortable with until it becomes second nature. Stop listening to opinions and start putting in those hours because sometimes we look up to other people so much that we forget to look into ourselves. Have a productive week ahead.

Allow yourself to be happy.

A lot of people equate happiness to laziness. That is if you are happy then you will be too content with what you have hence you won't be the ambition for more.  We have glorified self-torture so much that among others hustling has become a positive word and sleeping for less than healthy hours is praised particularly among the youth. We even go as far as diminishing our achievements, depriving ourselves so that we are not too comfortable. I don't know to what extent this will work but I know that this approach ultimately breaks in the long run. 

Success is built from effort, but effort is not the same as torture. Effort is meaningful work done for the love of it or to achieve a particular goal. Effort is not sleep deprivation so that you look busy or to please other people. Effort comes naturally.

I have to admit that I also fell into the trap, in high school the school manager , a clergy, used to give us a motivating speech every Monday about we should work hard to like him, to achieve our dreams. Recreation was considered taboo back then.What he didn't emphasize though was what motivated him, see he was making a huge difference in society and he enjoys it. He was in his zone, he was living with purpose and everything else was just a necessary evil. Getting there doesn't happen automatically, we don't all wake up knowing our talent, passion and purpose.  We have to try different things, fail at some or many to get to that zone. 

Relaxing is not laziness, it is sometimes necessary

The law of the secret states that like attracts like. Discontent attracts more discontent and  peace attracts more peace. Working for  something you love and enjoy is not self deprivation because it is rewarding in itself and it attracts more success. The vice versa is also true. This is the secret with history makers of all times. They don't just work aimlessly. 

Moral story: There is nothing wrong with being happy and content. 

The Big Lie

We have all been lied to. This lie has been deeply ingrained in us that it has become true.  Its the reason why we always feel like we are competing against each other. This lie has been perpetrated to motivate us to aim higher. Its the reason we all get surprised when a college dropout or worse a high school dropout becomes a billionaire, its the reason we'll never understand why top level CEO's resign to be family men and women. We are all victims of the Big fat lie and its difficult to see as that because the people who perpetuate it are perhaps the most important people in our lives. They are parents, teachers and well meaning mentors whom we  have given permission to guide our lives.

So  the big fat lie we are told is that there is one hierarchy, the higher up you are, the better you'll be and only hard work will get you there. Work as hard as possible to reach the top and everyone will die to be in your place. Get that dream job, dream car , dream house and dream spouse and you will be perfect. You literally won't need anything else because everything will be in your reach. People make millions selling dreams like these because they know nothing is as influential as peer pressure . 

'The hierarchy' myth starts in elementary school where there is no better system to reward students than test marks. We start defining ourselves from our position in class and then this lie is further ingrained when you're told that those grades determine what college you will go to and how successful you'll be. You grow up, get the freedom to pursue what you want and realize that it was all a lie, but its too late. A few realize this early enough and are honest with it but the rest will perpetuate this lie upon the next generation and the cycle continues.

Truth is there is no hierarchy. We are fundamentally different; for a start we have different backgrounds, not to mention our fundamental genetic difference. As much as hard work counts , a lot contributes to one's success; innate abilities, working environment among the many. Some thrive in strict conditions while others will flourish with proper support. One might define having many friends or being famous as success but for some of  us in our tiny introvert worlds, reading a book over a cup of tea means heaven. Some find satisfaction in flashy cars while others find true happiness in creative outlets. What is within your reach is probably someone else dream. There is no way one single hierarchy can capture all that. We might have interests in mutual things, and probably mini-hierarchies but one single hierarchy is just ridiculous.  

Here is a video of a 13 year old who is a bit wiser than the rest of the world.

Moral of the story: You are not half human if you don't have most of what your friends brag about on facebook. You are just different. Embrace it. Have a great week ahead!

Hello World!

Let me take this opportunity to apologize for my lack of online presence, I know it has been a long time since I posted amazing stories. This blog went to the bottom of my priority list since my course load this semester was heavier than usual (8 courses - almost double the previous semesters'). I also took the time to live (you know without having to think about the next blog post) .  So for the second time, hello world.

Honestly, I have been pondering a lot about this post but no one article can summarize how much I have learnt this semester, both mentally and technically. Today I'm  gonna talk about resilience.

 Resilience is not dismissing important things in our lives because of disappointments. Its about facing them , learning from them and being able to take it from there. Its not easy to believe in ourselves when everyone seems to have it figured it out. If there is anything I have learnt from reading the book  Never Eat Alone is that we are never alone, we all go through the same things, some of us are just better at hiding it. A good consolation would be to remember that Abraham Lincoln lost 8 elections, suffered 2 nervous breakdowns and failed twice in business but he didn't quit. Sometimes resilience makes all the difference. With that said, have a wonderful weekend and week ahead.


NB: There will be a few changes around, this blog wont be updated as often as I used to because I have a learnt rad stuff about tech and I will be  dedicating  my time to www.technofunology.blogspot.com .