PREPAREDNESS

If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four hours sharpening the axe. ~Abraham Lincoln~

10 years from now you may easily be inapt in your current job. 20 years from now, the position might altogether be obsolete. No industry will be as it is now. Today everything is moving at an exponential rate and we will either have to make a mental shift or get left behind.

We’re living in a time of constant technological advancement. You download a software and in no time, an update is required, sooner than later the software itself is outdated and a new smarter version is obligatory for purchase.

Take the mobile phone story in Africa. An ever growing industry. In a few short years, the proliferation of mobile phone networks has transformed communications in Africa. In a span of 10 years, we went from owning simple mobile phones to smartphones. It’s a world of a difference! No upgrade could help the previous generation of phones. Change was required to remain modernized.

This mobile revolution is changing all facets of our life. Industries ranging from banking to agribusiness to health and the like, realize that this relatively small hand gadget is a key aid to making huge economic transformations in their respective industries.

Sharpen your axe

Let’s talk the future. How prepared are we for the next decade?

In view of the major impact that technology has contributed in our various industries and general economic growth, how does 2030 look like? Having our governments embrace the ‘Vision 2030’, how aligned are we to that vision as a country? From a personal viewpoint, do we have a vision of how we would like our life to look like a decade from now in view of the technological revolution that is still ongoing?

A decade or two from now, the same technological advancement that has brought economic growth to our continent, may be the same one that shall be in need of review. Robots and machines will replace human labor. Are we prepared? What shall we do to avert that or if we embrace it, how will we divert human labor to ensure continuity of purpose? Are we prepared?

Mindset

Where we are now is a sum total of the things we thought of and actions we sort in the past. Ultimately, what we think about and do now, will determine our future. Much time should be placed on thinking it through and planning, not waiting for the wave to flow and send us in a direction it may please.

Inasmuch as we need to be present in the day to day, we need to employ ample time to prepare for the future. The best time to start preparing for the future is always the present. We need to shift our thinking towards what we want the future to bring us and know how we can contribute to make it come to life.

When climbing a mountain, it is advisable to occasionally pause and look up the mountain top.

This reflection is not only in view of our careers but general life preparedness, to reassure us of a future that looks like the one we planned for ourselves, otherwise, we will live a future planned by others for us as they deem fit.

May we strive to write our own future story and not live a story written for us by others.