The Apprentice and the 10,000 dollar watch

I don’t have a wristwatch. It’s not for lack of desire. Lord knows I’ve always wanted one. For years I’ve longed for one. It’s just that the one I want costs $10,000– Mutwalo gya doola as they say. Ok i know what you must be thinking. He’s lost his black mind!

But here’s the thing. It’s a fantastic watch. Actually, to call it a watch feels like calling a Bugatti Veyron a car. It’s a time piece. Swiss made. A heritage that goes back to the early church. A name that even the most ignorant hip-hop rappers know. It’s the Brietling Super Avenger Chronometer.

The Breitling Aero Marine “Super Avenger” with white face and leather strap.

The hand made watch from Zurich Switzerland is part of a long standing tradition of excellent time pieces made for the most demanding professionals in aviation and navy for the last two hundred years. It’s worth every damn cent.

I love the company slogan–Breitling, Instruments for professionals.

Now you may say, well that all sounds well and good but $10,000? Thats a whole car, 3years living expenses or a great deal of aid to the suffering people in Haiti. All very True. But consider this. Whether I buy this or not there will always be other people in need, disasters, famines and so on. (and it’s my lovely wife who is obliged to buy it for me-he he he)

The belief we commonly have is that if I use $10,000 today, i have irreversibly reduced the worlds wealth and millions will suffer for it. Er No! That is what is commonly referred to as the scarcity or poverty mentality. The belief that the resources in the world are finite and there isn’t enough to go around. Untrue.

There is plenty to go around. Hundreds of thousands of these watches are being sold worldwide and still the worlds wealth increases as do it’s problems. And believe me, when I can spend $10,000 on a watch, think how much I could spend on charitable giving? At least 10 times that amount for sure.

I believe though, at the end of the day, it’s important to know what you want and to go for it-legally of course. And I want a $10,000 watch made by a 200 hundred year old Swiss company that I can pass on to my great grandson. Why not?

Should I fail to get it, there’s always the $4500 Tag Heuer Carrera

Shalom

Desiderata by Max Erhman 1927

A friend of mine and long standing business owner Mr. Karangi Karibui of 5th Dimension Architects flattered me by endorsing my blog and the beliefs I aspire to. He thought my readers would be blessed by this poem written in 1927 by Max Erhman. I hope you enjoy it and thanks Karangi!

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Discovering the Apprentice’s Core Values

A couple of months ago, I was speaking with the Rogue King, about what drives us to do the things we do and make the choices that we do. He suggested to me that perhaps we should look deeper, to our core values.

So what are our core values? Well simple put they are the things we believe in the most that direct what and how we think about our life. There are hundreds of values that we each hold but some hold more power over us than others. For example some peoples core value is love. For others it’s family or power, money, religion etc.

It is important for us to know and choose our core values are because they color everything we do in life. It’s like our constitution. A person whose core value is Family for example will make all decisions about what they do around their need for family. The career he chooses, the car he drives, the type of person he marries. It’s all connected.

I decided to look at my own core values and I thought I’d share with you what I have chosen to be my guiding values in order to achieve my dreams and life purpose.

Love

I live and give love to all around me including myself. I give love regardless of how I feel but as directed by Gods word.

Responsibility

I am 100% responsible for my life and the results I experience. Everything I am, have or experience is a result of the choices and actions I’ve made in the past. I always have the ability to choose my response in life.

Integrity

I live congruently with my beliefs and principles and do not compromise them. My word is my bond.

Positivity

I maintain a positive attitude at all times, always looking for the upside in every situation. I believe every problem is an opportunity disguised.

Faith

I put my complete trust in God and the gifts, skills and talents he has placed in me.

Teachability

I am a constant learner, always striving to get better each day, in every way.

Courage

I stand and face my fears each and every day to accomplish great things. I seek opportunity and not security.

Compassion

I extend kindness, compassion, understanding and grace to all who need it.

Giving

I am a generous giver of my money, time and resources for the highest good of all.

Self Discipline

I maintain strong control over my will, emotions, passions and thoughts at all times keeping them focused for my greater growth

Diligence

I work hard at everything I do with the utmost care, excellence and attention to detail.

Excellence

I hold myself to the highest standards in all  that I am and do. I do not live according to the worlds standard but to Gods

Health

I work diligently to ensure y body is in great physical condition through healthy lifestyle choices

Creativity

I believe in using all of my God given creativity to imbue my life, relationships, work and passions with fun, excellence and impact

Personal Growth

I constantly seek to improve on every area of my being through learning and application. The better I am, the better my life will be.

Vision

i always have a clear Godly vision for my life which i pursue daily.

Peace

I seek to live in peace with everyone in as much as it depends on me. I gaurd my inner peace and I’m guided by it.

I am still discovering more of myself and adjusting accordingly. Some values we have don’t benefit us and it’s imperative to identify them and remove them while picking out ones that pull us forward. I’d like to hear some of your core values so drop me a line.

Shalom

A blessed & exciting 2010

Hey everyone, Happy new year to you all and welcome back. It’s great to be alive and back again for a new year. You could be sick, in jail, or dead or dying but nope, here you are reading this blog. So lets thank the Master for life and another chance to do things better.

The beginning of the year is a particularly intriguing time. It’s perhaps the only time in the year (except for our birthdays) that we really take time to reflect on the past and future seriously. Thats why resolutions are generally made at the start of the year.

For the last three years I’ve been in the habit of not making resolutions. I find that new year resolutions generally set me up for failure. They are usually not made with the right convictions and then followed up with really weak efforts. By end of March, I’m caught up in the waves of daily life and nearly forgotten most of my resolutions . Then the end of the year comes and I beat up myself because I didn’t even make a scratch in my resolutions. Does that sound familiar?

My solution to this crap cycle is to have a constant set of personal goals that I work on regardless of whether its a new year or not. I find this to be much a more progressive and fulfilling approach. Have your 3months, 1year, 5year and 10year goals at all times. They give direction, focus and hope.

An interesting alternative for new year resolutions is having an overall Yearly Theme. I found this on Steve Pavlina’s blog, an individual whose material i find to be exceptionally deep and insightful. His approach is to have a general theme for each year. For example 2008 his theme was Health, 2009 Relationships. This gives you a nice framework that helps you focus on a particular area of your life for one whole year whilst still working on your regular life goals.

Whatever you choose to do for 2010, what I can say is any resolution, goal or theme is better than just floating through the year and seeing what happens. As the saying goes “if you don’t know where your going, any road will take you there”.

I read somewhere that we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in a single year and underestimate what we can do in ten years. It hit me so hard to realise that we’ve just completed the first decade of the century! Think about that for a moment. 10 years. I think of all that i could have achieved by now if i’d only made serious commitments and goals ten years ago!

Heck, i simply decided to have flimsy resolutions and see where the year takes me. Now I’m still as far away from achieving my dreams as i was 10years ago! That is disturbing. I’m certainly not going to make that mistake with the next ten. I encourage you not to make it either.

So I bid you health, wealth and love in every aspect of your life in 2010. May be prosperous, may you become a greater person than you ever dreamed, may you conquer giants and love and be loved deeply. And may the Master be your guide, your strength, your refuge and your hope in this year and beyond. Amen

Let’s make 2010 a spectacular year.

Shalom

“I hope you live more, love more, laugh more, dare more, take mind blowing risks and achieve more in the new year.” New years SMS from a friend