MuguRe

This year I am in no mood for the festivities. I am feeling down and down and for some reason I wanna be far away from the whole hullabaloos that comes with this season. Yet I have to join my family and participate in the celebrations. Maybe the fact that I have lost the faith in the reason for the season, the whole nativity story, contributes largely to the depressed feeling that is inundating me so overwhelmingly. Who came up with this whole Christmas story anyway?!! In another 30minutes, Christmas day will be over and I have a huge sigh of relief building up already. I did keep my spirits up, handed out gifts although I received none, got the kids singing and dancing and took some amazing photos. The best thing all day was a surprise call from an old pal and I am looking forward to the hook up. In retrospect, it wasn't too bad a day!

I've finally met Nthenya Masyuko, an image consultant, today. I saw finally because I first knew of her from the, Four Winds Bands. Her company is called "The Orange Company"( http://www.theorangecompany.com/ ) and she is the epitome of Orange and it's clear that it's not just a color she picked off the color spectrum even though her desk, chairs, files, even her coffee mug, are orange. There is such warmth in the room and she has used this color beautifully and she does exude that orange feeling, like coming in from the rain or when the sun just cuts through the dark clouds. We are discussing personal branding and it's refreshing to meet someone who understands that it goes beyond qualifications on paper, that presentation is key from how you have arranged your house, your office, the colors you wear or don't wear. Isn't it amazing how you start off on a path and you are brought all the people you need for that journey? Like Dan Schawbel whose blog

I don’t know about you but at times I miss my yesterday girl with enough nostalgia to bring her back to life. Maybe getting on in years is bound to do that to you. Maybe approaching 40s makes you realize how much you have changed and at times the limitations those changes bring into your life. Or its probably just the fear of losing a part of you that has seen you through some dare devil moments of your life.My yesterday girl was full of life, was never afraid of changes. She embraced them like one embraces a lover. Her life was all mapped out with allowances for spontaneity. It was a time she would go on holiday without worrying whether she had enough to cover the trip and pay bills. Well, if they disconnected the power, think how romantic candlelight was going to make her nights of passion. If they disconnected the water, no problem, she could always move in with her less spontaneous siblings to cover her. As for food, all she had to do was to make sure that she had enough dates to c

“ A true Diva is a woman who knows that life is not about her, but rather the contribution she makes to others around her and the legacy she will leave behind.” from The Diva Principle, 2004. This is a book written by Michelle McKinney Hammond and formed the background of Wanjiku Wairia's, a Nutrition Consultant's talk on health as a legacy. Her company, Optimal Nutricare , deals with optimizing health defined as, " Optimal Nutrition is simply a means of nourishing yourself with the best possible combination of nutrients to enable your body to be as healthy as possible and to operate on top notch gear as possible. Therefore, you need not be a vegetarian, take supplements or eat particular combinations of food in a certain sequence at particular times THOUGH for certain people such advice would be appropriate especially in disease ." Being a diva takes understanding that you are born a diva, created in the image of Almighty God. As Wanjiku stated, "Pure substa

Nyatichi Sitati, MC at the Phenomenal Woman seminar showed me the importance of laughing at myself, a diva principle I believe. Please note that it must not be in derision but must be in acceptance at the point of life you are in. She's a mother of two and of course no longer a young babe and bearing children does take toll on our bodies. She didn't not wait for people to comment on the extra weight she had gained, she pointed it out. She knew why and understood that it was a season and she enjoyed being in that season. Often times we do not laugh at ourselves and therefore feel hurt when other people laugh at us. She made me realise that if I laughed at my so called imperfections, it wouldn't matter how much anyone else laughed at me. I would in any case be able to join in the laughter and therefore take the power back from my 'adversaries'. It's clearly the mark of a true diva. And I will therefore laugh more at myself, for myself and enjoy the seasons, knowin

Queen Ramotsehoa spoke on moving from reactor to creator which is a must when you are building your brand. It definitely moves you from a victim position to being in charge. When you become the author of your next course of life, which means you have established your personal brand, you choose who you will associate with, what projects are worth your while, relationships, jobs etc. The first thing to do is to establish whether you are a reactor or a creator by looking at the basis of your life in all aspects. Are you vision driven or circumstance driven? This is when you realise that 'change begins with me ' and start on working who you are BEING in relation to your inner self, loved ones, job & career, social & financial status, leisure, spirituality & physical being. Moving from reactor to creator was a great session for me because I was able to move to determining who I am in my destiny , what habits I need to be rid off and build, avoid the gremlins by ingra

Every person should have a guiding principle and it seems that most people do have a guiding principle. Some have changed them to a mantra that governs them and moves them to the next level. This seems like a necessity in building your brand. This should be fashioned around your attributes and values.

Saturday, 7th July, 2007 or 07-07-07 or 07-07-2007, whichever way you want to look at it ended up being a great day! I guess waking up with great expectations ensured that I received just that. Law of attraction at work, just as The Secret says it will. I had a one hour (7am-8am)prayer meeting at NPC, Valley Road and it was a really great moment, worth getting out of bed at 5.30am on a Saturday. The Phenomenal Woman seminar was starting at 8.30am which meant being at the Grand Regency at 8.15am to ensure that I kept time. I was with one of my sister', Nancie, and this provided a great opportunity for bonding as she lives out of Nairobi. Grand Regency was vibrant and all the ladies seemed intent on keeping time. The MC was Nyatichi Sitati and she made everyone comfortable and got things rolling with a game of meeting others with a sweet. The objective was to introduce yourself without using I AM or MY or I and see how many sweets you walked away with. I managed to get five sweets a

June was really cold. I was near frozen most of that month, probably the reason I have no posts. Therefore it was a great month to digest some more on branding. This week has being great, okay, it's not over yet but so far so great. I will be going for the Phenomenal Woman gathering at the Grand Regency this Saturday. The theme is " Make it happen! Create your own success" and I am looking forward to it . The speakers include Carol Mandi, Editor for True Love East Africa edition Magazine, Eunice Mathu, she of Parents magazine fame, Queen Ramotsehoa from SA " am a consciousness professional coach like none you have encountered. Passion is the closest word I can find to describe my utmost belief in the process that allows people to reawaken their true, worthy selves . " (a Google results) and Wanjiku Wairia, a nutritionist among others. I am definitely looking forward to the offering they will have in place for us and I am all set to network . I spoke to Rozie(

Dan Schwabel commented here on personal branding and said it's " An individuals total perceived value, relative to competitors, as viewed by their audience." And I've had the opportunity to visit his website www.personalbrandingblog.com and he is definitely passionate about personal branding. Pay him a visit and see what I mean

Click and Learn! http://www.slideshare.net/shwibbs/personal-branding-pitch

Personal Branding is " the art of attracting and keeping more clients by actively shaping public perception " (Peter Montoya). And according to William Arruda's definition " a revolution in the way we manage our professions. It means identifying and communicating what makes you unique, relevant and compelling so that you can advance your career or business. And as Arruda continues " using who you are to get what you want out of life" Today, I have discovered the Laws of Personal Branding as defined by Peter Montoya . Specialization. Leadership. Personality. Distinctiveness. Visibility. Unity. Persistence. Goodwill. I need to apply these laws in my campaign to build BRAND ME. The most important step is about having a definition of BRAND ME by ME instead of going by a definition that has being given by others. That means that my perception of ME must be based on a clear understanding of my weaknesses and my strengths. A clear focus on what needs to be c

The Business Daily yesterday had an article that was based on self-promotion, an interesting read actually, considering I spent a weekend thinking on the subject. I guess I do fall in the category of those who believe that self-promotion is all about bragging, blowing your trumpet, something that decent human beings don't do. In my journey, I am discovering that self-promotion is important especially if you want people to get to know you. That you must tut your horn because no one else is going to actively tell the whole world about you, who you are, your achievements, your plans, your goals unless you are paying them hefty sums of money to get the PR is clearly apparent. Taking that into consideration, you will have to self promote YOU. And the beauty of it, it's free and when you do it the right way, you have 5-10people telling another 10-20 people about you. Do the maths, you are on a roll! Self-promotion must be so subtle that your audience will have to think of it a lot la

I've had a beautiful weekend. I didn't do anything that some people might consider spectacular really. I got on the road in my journey to ME land. That might sound strange but I don't know how many people understand themselves or know themselves for that matter. We are dependent mostly on what our siblings/parents/friends/colleagues say about us to have an idea of who we are and not really know who we are. If someone asked you to describe yourself with five words only, that encompass all of you, would you know what to say? That was the task I decided to undertake this weekend and I discovered that I did start this journey a while back but I've somehow managed to be In The Meantime like forever. This is also a journey that has now taken on a more defined course as I work on becoming a BRAND . I know all my five attributes by the way- Intuitive, Charismatic, Industrious, Tenacious & Responsible . Add Intelligent to that list please! I have also looked at my st

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

Just for today, I wanna be my moms' little gal, with no cares or concerns. I want to sleep in with no worries of traffic jams, deadlines for projects, targets, KPI reports or plans for June to put in place. I want to shop for a good book I can curl up with and read from start to end, while enjoying a nice chocolaty cake and coffee so aromatic and so dark , it reminds you of those days of blackouts in Nairobi. Just for today, I want to transverse the countryside without any worries of mugging, rape or being murdered. I want to sit near the river and listen to the frogs tell stories as the water gurgles downstream and the wind gently rustles the reeds. I want to climb trees, sit up there and survey the landscape and throw stones with no worry of how inappropriate that would be for someone my age. I want to compete at the game of identifying the different birds from sound and color, the different weeds and small weird looking bugs. I want to hunt for worms without thinking how yucky t

I enjoy reading Iyanla. I especially enjoyed reading "in the meantime' because i was really in the meantime. And I also enjoyed reading "Value in the Valley' because it made me understand the valleys that life will take me through. I have carried most of those lessons as I continue this journey called life. Most especially PEACE, TRUST & FAITH . Surrendering the preoccupation with others and what they think about me long enough to find peace, trusting God to provide for me, protect me and that everything comes on time and in time are not very easy lessons. Like Maya Angelou, I can say, Still I rise! And I continue to appreaciate the meantime and the valleys and remembering that every dark cloud does have a silver lining. I continue to count my blessings, to appreaciate the friends I have made along the way and learning that the ones who move on have accomplished that which they were sent to do in my life and I in theirs. Of course the difficult ones to let go are

" Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting ; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" As we grow, we learn to charm our way to getting whatever we want, when we want it. We learn to use our power as women into being charming. We charm our moms when we are 2yrs and below with beautiful smiles and some "I yav u"s, we charm our kindergarten teachers by bringing them sweets although our moms are probably to blame for that one. We also learn that it's important to invest in our beauty, we become obsessed in outdoing each other in lifelong beauty contests in winning friends, jobs, men etc. All in all we learn to get away with murder through all stages of our lives. When you read Proverbs 31 in the Old Testament of the Bible, you will find the above verse and it gets you thinking. All I have learn throughout my life, I have to replace with something new and more profound like being in awe of God so that I can gain praise. It blows my mind! however, i am deter