Turning your vision into reality
Every year people like to set goals and resolutions but as the year progresses we lose out on the implementation part. In order to motivate and share ideas on the art of goal setting DefZee in collaboration with US Embassy started the year with a talk called “Screw it Let’s Do It”. The theme of the seminar was borrowed from a book by Richard Branson. To some people the theme of the seminar may sound dirty but from just a few minutes of presentations from the facilitators you end getting motivated to embark on your goals and resolutions for the year. A well picked panel of some of Zimbabwe’s finest entrepreneurs consisted of Fungai James Tichawangana the founder of a popular entertainment site ZimboJam and Rudo Nyagulu a lawyer by profession and founder of Ethos and Stimulus group gave testimony and motivation to the audience on how they started their businesses and the importance of setting goals and achieving the best in life.
Starting something from scratch is the most difficult thing especially in an unfriendly environment and some people are scared of taking risks. The key to goal setting is your ability to turn vision into reality.
Creating SMART goals also involves passion and getting over the default mindset of defeat before you even start. Goals can be set according to your timeframe; some can be short term (0-6 months), medium term (6-18 months) and long term (18-24 months). With no time frame tied to your goals it means there is no sense of urgency and you may end up relaxing. A specific goal has a greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Measure your progress so that you stay on track. The reason why some goals are not attainable is because they are not realistic. Like for example to start a business in Zimbabwe you need to have capital and to get a loan from a bank requires one to have collateral which you might not have. So if your goal is to own an operational company by the end of the year the chances are high that your goal won’t be realised in one year. So set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
The event gave motivation especially to those aspiring entrepreneurs as it provided the opportunity to learn from the best. According to Richard Branson “looking, listening, learning – these are things we should do all our lives, not just at school”. The food for thought session created the space for members of the public to hear live testimonies from people who started from scratch but with a “screw it, let’s do it” attitude they ended up creating something.