ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Start small. Start Now.

Did you know that Coca-Cola sold only 25 bottles in its first year?

I know many friends who would like to start their own business and maybe that's your case too.  But perhaps you find your current job so overwhelming that you feel you can't combine it with anything else. Or if you are like me, you wonder if chasing your passion by building something new; in a new field is realistic. I mean how do you change a career after accumulating so many years in a given sector? What if your new venture fails? 

A very good friend of mine called Priscilla is a good example. She began a business making and selling handmade children clothes when she had a full time job. Today, she is working on producing and delivering health foods to the community as an additional business and she still has a full time job. Naturally, it is not easy as she told me. Her secret is: start small but start now. Just like Coca Cola started by selling only 25 bottles in its first year before it became what we know today; you too can build your business and work on it progressively. I think that's a great tip. 

Picture at Kipepeo-Kids 

"Start small. Start now."  Priscilla R.

Here is my take. Unless you pursue your interest and work on what you love, you will never know if it will succeed or not. Whatever your dream is, start working on it at night and on the weekends, or whenever, just start. Once you start, you'll learn whether your excitement is real or just a phase. Just stay long enough at the task though, one month trial is not enough. And if it doesn't work out, then you didn't really lose much, in fact you gained knowledge in a new field or discovered yourself in the process. Then you can start again on your next passion. The more you try, the more you learn who you are and what really drives you, and eventually you will begin to live your dream. 

One thing is sure, the perfect time will never arrive. You are always too young, too old, busy or broke, not skilled enough, this and that. 

Stop waiting for the right time because time isn't waiting for you. 

It is not too late to pursue your goal

I did it! It's been two weeks but I am still happy that I participated in my first run ever - The Peace Marathon. 

This year, I went from being a couch potato to running my first international race organized in my hometown. It was only 7km but it meant a lot. Beyond the physical benefit, I gained a lot from it because it was a goal that I set at the start of the year; that I broke down, pursued, committed to and finally achieved. I learned a great deal in this process. I did it! It's been two weeks but I am still happy that I participated in my first run ever-The Peace Marathon in Kigali. I did it

 1.Take your time to set your goals right

I have heard and learned a lot about goal setting in recent years. I have noticed that it has become a routine and people generally have a sense of what they want to achieve. However, it becomes less clear when stating clear steps to get there. As I set the goal to run at this year Peace Marathon, I realized that it was the second time I was setting this same goal. I had missed it last year. So I had to do something different this time - that is, if I wanted to succeed. 
One of the best decision I took was to break down my goal. First, I set a target to walk 6000 steps each day; then I kept increasing the number of steps on a monthly basis and I increased the speed from walking to jogging. To monitor my progress I downloaded Samsung Health on my phone and I kept a weekly update.I can attest that breaking down a big goal into smaller steps, taking action and measuring progress helped me improve gradually and eventually meet my goal. It's a winning formula! 

 

2. If you go alone you will go fast, if you go together you will go far 

Goal setting at the beginning of the year feels exciting. At this time of the year, most people are passionate, driven and want to make a difference in their life. That was certainly my case. In the past few years, I have learned about goal setting and noticed that most people generally have a sense of what they want to acheive in a given year, but very few have a sense of how to get there. 
When I began implementing my fitness goal, I had set to walk 6000 steps every day. In the first weeks, I would walk and a few times I beat that target. However after a couple of months, I started stalling. There were few weeks I did not go beyond 1000 steps. I had grown tired of walking in the same area and I wasn't comfortable walking long distances alone. At this point, I decided to share my goal with my husband and asked for help. He joined me in the walks and that made a big difference. 
I increased my walking distance from an average of 3km to 10km three times a week. I also increased my speed and added jogging to the walks, and I discovered new areas of my city in the process. As a plus, we got to spend quality time together.  

The valuable lesson I learned was the advantage of sharing your goal and asking for help. It's amazing what difference it can make. There are people out there willing to help, all you got to do is reach out. 

3. What you get by achieving your goal is not as important as what you become

The journey to living your goals changes you. Whether you notice it or not, it does. Over time, people close to you and around may begin to notice that change. On the day of the race, I had to wake up before 5.00 am in order to make it on by 7.00 am to the stadium where it was due to start. This was due to logistical constraints. The arrangements were such that we would walk to the stadium before the race which : as my husband rightly pointed out, meant that I would be exhausted even before the race began. For a few minutes, the night before, I wondered if it was worth it. Then I heard a whisper : 

 Winners don't quit. Quitters don't win. 

It's hard to explain but I felt different. Like a new part of me had emerged and was in charge. This new person is probably who my husband saw that dawn as he stared at me for a while and when I asked what he was thinking, he didn't find the words. Then after some silence, he said: "you just amaze me." When I asked him days later what he meant, he still can't seem to find the exact the words. While I can only speculate about it, I believe he saw a different side of me he had never seen in the past 15 years, perhaps what he saw is a new person I am becoming, work in a progress, slowly transforming by the pursuit of goals. 

4. Trust God in every moment

Pursuing goals is not an easy task. Sometimes it is not that goal itself is hard, but it requires changing old habits and installing new habits and that can very challenging, When we face challenges, we might tempted to give up and most people do. If done regularly, it becomes a habit.  Yet, I have learned to keep pushing through and put trust in God no matter the struggles. Back to the race. When we were all ready just before 6.00 am, I couldn't help but dread having the walk the 7km to the venue as we would have to. The alternative was to drive around the city trying to find the few open roads to the venue and risking to find no parking space. We knew friends who had missed the race in previous year because they were late for the same reason, so we didn't want to take that risk. 
Our options were limited, not God's. 
That morning, as we got the main road, we decided to hitchhike. We stopped a vehicle from a driving school that we later find out was going to pick up a client. Andre, an amazing guy, stopped and we got in. We began a one hour journey going round and round the city, through dirt road and trails, until we got close the stadium. As he dropped us off, we offered to pay him, but he would not accept our money. He said, he was happy to help. It was simply a miracle, and I believe Andre was an angel sent to us. 

The Bible says: Trust only in God in every moment! Tell Him all your troubles and pour out your heart longings to Him." Psalm 62:8

When we set our goals, we are motivated and this motivation can last a few weeks, but very few people start implementing them, and even fewer people stick to them. I have been there so I know it is not easy at all. But I have also experienced the joy of achieving the set goals and it supersedes by far the unease of pursuing them. 
There exists lots of strategies to stick to goals and a lot has been written on the subject. My experience has shown me that the most important is to start the habit of setting goals, put them in writing, act on them, monitor progress and keep pursuing them until they are achieved. The more this is done, the more one gets good at it. Like any muscle, this exercise develops the brain muscle. First you will enjoy ticking off small tasks, then you will feel confident and start taking on bigger goals, and bigger goals, until it becomes a habit and you can't go back. It is a long and tenuous process and I must admit I am not there yet. But I believe it is worth every effort. 
At the start of this year, I wrote down that I would take part in this race. The challenge was that it was scheduled on my birthday so I would not be able to spend it with my family as I have done every year. But I am happy I took that decision. My family supported me in this journey and my husband has become my jogging partner. 
Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned and keep learning everyday, is that the people who love you and matter the most, will always support you as long as you keep them in the loop. So I urge you not to feel overwhelmed trying to achieve your goals alone, reach out to family, mentors and friends, there is likely someone ready to help, BUT you have to take the lead, stick to those goals, no matter the challenges ahead.