Mr.Bett

We need to be honest with ourselves.

Shortcuts do work especially in this 'microwave' world. They are shortlived though; that's a fact.

Integrity is not feasible for short term gains. It's a long term commitment that will be harder, take years and for most of that time will not be logical especially if the society you are in doesn't value it.

It's a choice you make.

Here is this week's article:
https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-38-Integrity-won%E2%80%99t-work-in-the-short-term

Integrity won’t 'work' in the short term The world we live in at the moment is about the now. What can I get in the short term? Will I be able to get money out of this venture as fast as possible? Will this job be able to pay me ‘X’ amount in a salary immediately? I need to buy this car now. Do I need to be truthful to this person now?...

I am thankful for among other things being healthy today.

A regular programme for gratitude will help you realize and celebrate the strides you are making however small and fuel your drive to see everything through.

What are you grateful for today? Do you express your gratitude regularly?

Check out this week's article:

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-37-Be-Grateful

Be Grateful. ‘Gratitude turns what you have into enough’ I had a conversation with a friend of mine who told me he had started using a gratitude jar some years back and it changed his life. He says that by regularly writing down what he was grateful for every day, he was consciously becoming aware of all the...

Your time is limited and you need to do the best you can, when you can. You go further when you have a mature person giving you the much needed advice and saving you a lot of time in mistakes averted.

The dynamic of young and old in the workplace, at home or any other social setting is key; a good mix of both ensures success.

Check out this week's article

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-36-The-mix-of-young-and-old-is-key

The mix of young and old is key Let’s say there are tasks to be done by three different people. Tell a three year old to wait for month and it is an eternity for them. Tell a ten year to wait for a year and it sounds like a century to them. Tell a fifty year old that it will take 5 years and he will tell you it is shorter than h...

A lot of the times, you can look at the media and think some of these famous business leaders make all the decisions and that's why they are so successful.

We only hear of the CEO getting the credit for the success.

Most of the time, it just boiled down to them being good at one thing: delegation. Putting their trust in their teams to do their job.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-35-Put-your-trust-in-others

Put your trust in others I was looking back at the big mistakes I have made in business and I realized that a huge number of them came from me making decisions on things completely on my own. I was able to bag big clients and then proceeded to do everything on my own: sourcing capital, negotiating with suppliers, meeting wi...

When s**t hits the fan, there are two things that could help you get through it faster.

Good relationships and a goof financial standing.

You better ensure you invest in good relationships with family, friends and colleagues while you learn how to invest money.

What do you think?

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-34-Invest-money-invest-in-relationships

Invest money, invest in relationships Misfortune is a reality; it is not something you can wish away. You will lose a loved one, you might get fired from your job or your business may go under. Another reality is that life goes on. The sun will rise and set as usual, your bills will still need to be paid and you will still be required t...

I watched the Michael Schumacher biopic yesterday and it shed some light on something we don't think about often.

The life we have is very fragile; everything we have can be taken away in an instant. This has nothing to do with material things but our health, fitness and time.

What we have is a priviledge that millions of people lose everyday. We need to be grateful for what we have now.

The best way we can show gratitude for all that we have now is to make the best of our time, health, skills and gifts for the good of the world.

Show some gratitude today.

Here is this week's article: https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-33-gratitude

Gratitude I was watching the Michael Schumacher bio-documentary a day ago and it was amazing seeing people talk about this private F1 legend. His gift and skill showed on the racetrack as he made history each time he revved his engine. There are also times when he was frustrated like the first four years at F...

I had a discussion with a friend over the weekend and we agreed on one thing: bills have to paid.

It doesn't matter it it is an individual person or a company. For thinsg to function, bills have to paid.

You will need to be flexible in your thinking to know that you will not always be able to do ideal thinsg to make the money to pay bills.

Your job may not be what you want now but it pays the bills. Your business may have been started to do one thing but you will have to do other things to to pay the bills.

Here is the week's article:

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-32-Bills-have-to-be-paid

Bills have to be paid When you become an adult, you are ushered in to the ‘amazing’ world that is paid for by bills and this will continue on till you die. You will pay for food, rent, clothes, transport, water, electricity… you get the drift. This doesn’t only apply to individual people; businesses have to pay b...

There is a viral video of the value of a twenty dollar note being the same despite the state it is in: crumpled, wet or torn.

The same is true for human beings too. Value can be 'visible' when you are successful and have people's approval or 'non-existent' when you are failing and lack support. But it is always there; you just have to project it at all times.

Your staff and colleagues have value too and you can choose to remind them of it when they are failing or bring them down.

Check out this week's article:
https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-31-your-value-never-diminishes

Your Value Never Diminishes I watched a video on social media about a lecturer giving a small talk to his students. It is a viral video so am sure most of you have seen it. The lecturer holds a twenty dollar note and asks whether anyone wants it. The whole class raises their hands up. He then goes on to crumple the note in his...

This is how school was for me: no extra studying time, no study groups and no after school coaching. Exam results: Straight A's.

This is how business is for me now: little to no breaks, constant hard work and always learning something new. Initial results of new projects: missed the mark, lost money. and wrong strategy.

I wrestled with reality for a long time before I understood that it takes time and challenges to make things work in real life. Success in the beginning is just getting it done and going on from there.

Check out blog article number thirty: https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-30-At-first-just-getting-it-done-is-a-win

At first, just getting it done is a win. Growing up, I got straight A’s in school throughout. Not just in a few subjects, all of them. I didn’t need any coaching, study-groups or extra hours of reading; I just went to class as per the school timetable and played a lot afterwards. It was tough understanding that most of my classmates we...

I spent money on well-meaning outside help for something my team was capable of handling. And it didn't work.
It's a typical mistake that most individuals and companies make. Spending time and resources on outside help before actually investing in themselves and their teams respectively.
Has this happened to you?

Check out this week's article.
https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-29-Look-inside-first

Look inside first In an effort to make one of our projects successful, we paid large sums of money to individuals we believed would bring in more exposure and sales. We were relaxed knowing that we were assured of our return on investment. Eventually, we did not get the increased sales and what we actually sold could...

The objectives you set at the begining of any endeavour determine its success and longevity.

If you focus on the wrong objectives and then get frustrated when they take too long to manifest, you will quit.

Setting realistic objectives will give you the right frame of mind to push on even during challenges.
Read through this week's article and let me know what you think.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-28-get-your-objectives-right

Get your objectives right Over the weekend, we hosted the first of our monthly set of events. We had a great turn-out; we actually sold a good amount of tickets. The lineup of DJs we had did not disappoint and the crowd responded with enthusiastic dancing. The stage décor was to die for; the team took it to the next level o...

A nice story about a small boy crossing the river with his friends that I chanced to find on social media really stuck with me. To get to the other side, they were stepping on large pebbles. It got foggy and the boy couldn't see all the way to the other side. He got scared and told the rest to turn back.

His friend asked himif he could see the next pebble and after squinting, the boy confirmed that he actually could. His friend told him to step on it and do the same for the next one.

They made it to the other side; one pebble at a time.

Check out this week's article: https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-27-it-gets-foggy

It gets foggy Last week, I saw a post, I can’t remember on which social media platform it was. Anyway, the message is more important. There was a gentleman talking about a book he had read called ‘A boy, a dog, a Frog and a Friend; I am still looking for it. In it was a story of a boy who was crossing a river...

I went for a funeral last week and the stories I heard from the people who stood up to speak really left an impression on me. I didn't know the deceased person well but the story painted a very good picture.

Among other acts of kindness, she was known for giving people "viazi" which is Swahili for potatoes. The whole crowd including myself had eaten one of her potatoes. She grew them in a small plot of land but over the years, she had shared them with her family, neighbours and hundreds of families from all over the country.

What do people know you for? It is not about grand gestures; it is the little things that count.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-26-viazi

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Viazi For my all my foreign readers, let me just start by clarifying that ‘viazi’ is the Swahili word for potatoes. There it is; now are on the same page and there is no one hanging. I really appreciate that my readers are from all over the world; it means a lot. Last week, I attended a funeral with a...

There are companies that spend millions on activities that don't immediately make sense to their bottom line.

There are offerings that businesses give that don't actually make them any profit.

There are things you do personally that don't make sense to most people but are part of yur routine.

Strategically though, they have immense impact that cannot be immediately put into monetary or other terms. Long term, they are integral to your personal and business growth.

I write about a story along these lines on my blog this week. Tell me what you think.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-25-it-will-not-make-sense-all-the-time

It will not make sense all the time Everywhere you go these days, everyone is trying to measure the effectiveness, the efficiency and financial viability of everything they invest their time and resources in. It is amazing that more people and businesses are able to turn around their fortunes by focusing on the things that are logical...

There are thousands of books on it and many more people give talks about it. It is an important part of your work and life in general.

But let's be honest, most of our plans don't always work especially the first 'draft'. It undergoes changes upon changes before it works.

There are some professions that follow plans to the letter and it works with minimal hitches. Then there are those who will constantly lose faith in plans as things constantly go 'off-script'.

My article this week delves into plans and that it much as it may not work out as it should, plan anyway!

Happy New Week!



https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-24-plan-anyway

It may not work as planned; plan anyway. The truth of the matter: things rarely work according to plan. Worst case scenario is things don’t work at all and you are forced to come up with an impromptu plan on the fly. This may or may not work but it saves the situation. Best case scenario is it works very well, all according to plan, with...

There is so much at play when we look at life in general that we quickly realize that there are a lot of knowns and unknowns that impact our lives. These can be people and circumstances that we encounter daily.

We have great knowledge and wisdom and there is a lot we can do to change in our lives; but still to a limited degree. We still have to work with others and navigate situations, both of which sometimes are not our cup of tea.

It is not about us at all; we have to do our best but still accept that we need others and we will have to adapt to changing circumstances at all aspects of our lives.



https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-23-its-not-about-you

It’s not about you; you have a role to play. I recently read a book called ‘Astrophysics for People in a Hurry’ by Neil Degrasse Tyson. Yes, even since I was young, I have always had an interest in all things space. More than watching space movies, I loved reading books about Astronomy, those big voluminous ones. Anyway, this particular bo...

If your restaurant is serving Swahili food, you should learn all there is to know about it. Practice and be very good at preparing the dishes and how they are served.
The people who have tasted coastal food before, will be very grateful. Those who will taste it for the first time will go through a ‘culinary experience’ that they will associate with your establishment forever.

This is not just about food; it is applicable in work and business.



https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-22-biryani-and-ukwaju

Biryani and Ukwaju My experience with food here in Kenya is that it gets to a whole new level when you eat Coastal food. Coastal dishes make eating cease becoming a necessary function of everyday life to become a delightful culinary journey of tastes, colour and aromas. This brought me back to a specific restaurant in...

It's funny how sometimes a plan or routine that always works for you, will just not work and you'll have to work with what you have at that time.

A random thought may come up to you to shake things up a bit; something very uncharacteristic of you.

Has that happened to you?



https://www.mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-21-it-says-go-right-but-maybe-you-go-left-this-time

It says go right but maybe you go left this time I came back to the house last evening and removed my shoes at the door as usual. Right there and then, a thought came to my mind: take your shoes inside. I ignored it, I was tired and just wanted to settle in and rest plus it is January, the driest month of the year. I woke up in the dead of night a...

If my favourite sports team loses a match, I get disappointed yes but I go home and sleep like nothing happened.
Either way, I find sports to be very interesting due to its many similarities with business and life.
In sport you have to show up for all the games so that you raise your chances for winning most of them since loss will inevitably happen at some point.
We are in this for the long run and we should be ready to play the game.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-20-win-some-lose-some

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Win some, lose some I am not a huge sports fan, never have been; if my favourite team loses, I will not lose a wink of sleep about it. However, I watch 60% of the games during the World Cup; that's the one time I am keenly watching sport in any capacity. During the times I watch a league football match, an F1 race, a b...

The last couple of years have been a rollercoaster that has made us realize how little control we have of the external events but more importantly how strong and resilient we are on the inside.

I have my plans and strategies for the year but more importantly everyday of 2022, I will be grateful for life and the ability to execute them.

I plan to be present for the day and the now; the only part that we can possess.

Happy New Year everyone!



https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-19-welcome-2022

Welcome 2022! Another year is here with us. I don't know about the rest of you but 2021 went past very fast for me. There will be a lot of talk about New Year Resolutions, strategies and plans; all of which is fine. I want to see today and the rest of the year through an additional lens. I am currently reading th...

According to Google Analytics, my website does not have over-the-top number of visitors but my readers come from every continent in the world.

I am humbled that this is happening and I hope that it making a difference in all those who take the time to read the articles on a weekly basis.

Enjoy my last article of the year 2021.. Happy Holidays!



https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-18-happy-holidays

What's your flavour? Please choose one It is an honour to have people around the world read my blog weekly. To be clear, I do not have crazy readership numbers but according to Google Analytics, I have readers from all continents of the world. For that, I am eternally grateful and humbled. They say a journey of a thousand miles begins wi...

Our parents had a different employment story from ours: they worked in one company their whole lives where they got most, if not all, of the training they required.

We will have worked in multiple companies and industries by the time we retire while our training will be our own responsibility to manage.

There has never been a time in history when the barriers to personal growth were so low.. You have access to so many courses online and it is gets better with free tutorials on YouTube.

If you want to increase your skills, you can start with a having an internet connection and a smartphone.

Check out my thoughts on this:

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-17-you-have-to-do-it-its-your-growth

You have to do it; it’s your growth. Up to the tail end of the 90s, hearing a person change jobs was a rare thing. Most of our parents started work in one company as young, naive men and women in their 20s, got married and then retired in their late 50s and early 60s, just as their children also started out their own working lives. It....

I believe your work is you.

What you do everyday instills certain habits into your life. The environment that is your workplace makes you who you are. The colleague, clients and other people you interact with influence your behaviour.

The results of your work say a lot about you: the amount of work you put in, your skill level and your work attitude.

So I believe your work is you.

What do you think?

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-16-you-are-your-work-here-is-why-I-think-so

You are your work. Here's why I think so. Who you are is determined by your habits, your environment and the people you mostly interact with. You change any of these , you significantly change who you are as a person. We spend upwards of 40 hours a week at work. For most people, that's more than any other activity including spending time wi...

The tenacity of the human spirit is one that continuously amazes me.

We have people in our lives who despite all odds including terminal illnesses continue to bring more life into their families, relationships, work and businesses.

All of this is done without complaint until they physically can't do it anymore.

This week I look at two people who did exactly this. I hope you will remember those in your life who exemplify this same ideal.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-15-you-have-5-years-left-what-do-you-do

You have 5 years left.. what do you do? I was scrolling through twitter yesterday and I see this name trending: Virgil Abloh. I have no idea who he is but from the tweets I could tell he is a big deal. He was trending because he died on Sunday 28th November 2021 at just 41 years of age. I see tweets from big names honouring him and praisi...

A very interesting conversation I had over the weekend was the inspiration for this week's article.

One mechanic, two clients, two different outcomes.

It is your business; it is your responsibility to communicate the price and timelines for provision of your goods and services. Make it clear and be firm.

https://www.mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-14-communicate-clearly-and-firmly

Communicate clearly and firmly In Kenya, when you talk about a mechanic, the first things that come to mind are unprofessional conduct, dishonesty, poor work quality and unmet deadlines. Granted, there are a number of very professional mechs out there and even I have met them. Let me share a story I was told by a friend this week...

You either drink cola, orange or any other flavour of soda at a time.
But you chose one.

You also get to decide what you do for a living or what you provide as a business.
It is best to choose one that you can excel at and grow your value in it.

Focus is key.

This isn’t about soda.Check out this week's article on my blog.
https://www.mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-13-whats-your-flavour-please-choose-one

What's your flavour? Please choose one Growing up, as the festive season drew closer, I'd get excited mostly because of all the food that would be available. In particular, was Chapati which was not as commonly prepared as it is today. I used to sneak into the kitchen at night just to steal a couple of chapatis to hide; it was that valua...

Most of the actions we take have a compound effect on our lives. We do them repeatedly for so long but the end results are not visible to us until much later.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-12-my-amazing-smoothie

My Amazing Smoothie I am at the supermarket for my monthly shopping; frequently checking my grocery list to ensure I have picked all the items located on the aisle I am currently on, before I move on. There is no way I am coming back because I forgot something. It is crucial I get this over and done with as soon as pos...

A friend of mine was telling me a story of this terrible experience with a client of his last week. I shared my horror stories too. But in the end, it is about you growing from those experiences and redefining your rules of engagement with clients.
It gave me pointers to this week's article. Let me know what you think and share your story too.



https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-11-still-crawling

Still Crawling? When you were a crawling toddler, you don't remember of course but, you tried countless times at standing upright. You failed at most attempts and it was funny seeing you fall on your backside. Each time, you either abandoned the previously unsuccessful strategy or put more effort in one that almost...

The key to a successful business or anything else in life is knowing what works and replicating it in your daily routine; a kind of recipe of sorts. I delved into this while giving tribute to one of Nairobi's renowned establishments.

https://mr-bett.com/blogs/blog-10-does-your-recipe-work

Does your recipe work? I was walking in Downtown Nairobi recently and I came across this building that had recently burned down. Among the businesses that was razed to the ground was Sonford Fish and Chips; this was a fast food joint that has been a staple of Nairobi’s mostly young crowd. If you were in Nairobi in your ...