Exposure, Learning and Growth

I believe exposure can be an enemy of learning and growth.

A while back I had a meeting with a young man who didn’t have his life all figure together as you may say. What stood out to me was his demeanor or rather the desire to listen, learn, and try something new. He was like an open book because he didn’t know much. It’s very hard to correct or challenge a very exposed opinionated person. They won’t let you finish before they interrupt with what they know better than you. Or their minds racing on a thousand other things they could say better than you. Or still, something they should also let you know that they know. They would like to mention their experiences here and there and let you know how well exposed and experienced they are. It calls for a lot of maturity for an exposed and experienced person to listen to another person. Worse if they feel the person doesn’t know much as they are or is less exposed and experienced compared to them.

I dare say that exposure also deters our ability to make and deal with choices that we face daily. We always want to measure up to the level of people we have interacted with or show that we have it all together or we know what others don’t know. We delay eating the humble pie and taking the first single confused step. We hold ourselves in high esteem and end up getting frustrated if we don’t see things in our lives move as first as we would like them to. We feel we deserve better and hence not ready to start from the bottom. We want the best seat and the good office. We don’t see ourselves serving tea or punching papers or cleaning tables.

Exposure is excellent, and everyone needs it to learn from different experiences and to get different perspectives in this life. We need to think global and act locally. But if your exposure leaves you unteachable, not wanting to start from where you are, hanging on the experience and being empty looking for another dose of when next will you have another adrenaline rush of another high profile exposure, then it’s a waste of your life. I’d rather an exposure that opens you to the global world but makes you realize that you have to start small to get there. You have to start where you are and start now. When you get a person, who is mature enough and can translate that exposure to their present status and build something out of it, then that’s a life well lived.

I consider myself privileged to have some unique access to some excellent opportunities and people. This year especially has come with access to another amazing opportunity. My next step now is to ask myself, how do I translate that into my present situation so I can build something out of it. I have become a GiANT Worldwide Senior Consultant. GiANT Worldwide was not in my new year resolutions for 2018, but God had it in his plans for my life. It has opened me to a world of amazing people, content, ideas, possibilities, and hope for coaching and consulting on Leadership, Team Performance, and Organizational culture. Am the first in Africa. Now how I translate this to make sense to me is the next hard step.

Raising the Standards of Leadership

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Unfortunately, this has brought some challenge in my life. I feel I know something that most people don't know. I find myself having to tell myself, concentrate and listen to the person talking. Don't be thinking of how best that could be said or how much that could mean if you were given a chance to talk about it now that you have this fantastic content. So I have to learn to listen at a new level. Not having to give my opinion on everything. Go into training sessions organized by others with an open mind to learn not to compare. Sit down in a meeting and not necessarily have to say anything.

If this resonates with you, seek to make love work not just talking about it. Look for a small community of friends who you can learn to do this together. Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journey of making love a reality.  You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be a small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

 

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you.

Image Credits: http://www.businessmalawi.com

By Gabriel Achayo

Senior Consultant

GiANT Worldwide (www.giantworldwide.com) 

Visibility Vs. Ability

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I believe your visibility is more important than your ability.

It is good to be able to perform, deliver, be efficient in whatever task you have. But if you are not there, visible, present, then it doesn’t help both you and the parties involved. Visibility or presence is very key to success. 80% of success is being present. Someone who is available is more ready to engage than someone who has passion, great ideas, and ability but is always not available. Being present today but always absent also does not really help on building a common purpose. There has to be a commitment to be always there. In everything I commit to doing, I’d rather have someone who is always there than someone who has great ideas but always absent.

As a father and a husband, my presence at home is more valuable than I can imagine. Being there in the life of my spouse and my kids is all they ask for. I might be able to perform in all areas of life and even be seen out there as a good husband or great father but if am not present in the lives of the people who love me most, and who I can’t delegate my responsibility to someone else, then it’s all in vain. This has been my learning curve, how do I be present, not just physically there but fully there for my family. To my family, it’s not about how much I make, do or able to do, though that’s key, but at the end of the day, are they my priority.

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Whatever we prioritize we create time for. It’s always heartbreaking to prioritize someone yet to them you are not a priority. There are cases where you may deal with people who you really value yet they probably don’t even care about your existence. They don’t even consider you in any category of priorities in their lives. This is unfortunate. Wisdom may call on evaluating such relationship and seeing how to handle them.

In all the work we have done in Africa Youth Leadership Forum, AYLF, it’s always been based on those who are available. Those who commit to putting in their time. I believe these are the people who prioritize what AYLF is doing. There could be those who are not available due to geographical issues, this is a different case. We have had guys who have come with amazing ideas on how we can push AYLF forward, how we can do this and that differently. Great ideas and wonderful thoughts. But if they are not available, we have always simply moved on with how we do our things and relied on those available to keep the engine running.

Most ideas and projects have not succeeded because those who have the ideas have not prioritized them to a point where they put their time and resource on them. All they have done is talk and talk about them but not really give themselves. The greatest gift you can give to your friends or projects or ideas is to give yourself. For God so loved the world that He gave… Jesus left the glory in heaven and came down to be with us. To show us how to live life and how to follow Him. This was the ultimate gift to humanity. This ultimate gift calls for sacrifice. For any good thing to happen, we have to be willing to sacrifice. Those who have been involved in moving the needle on any issue clearly understand this. Unless someone chooses to give themselves to an idea, project, friendship, all will be in vain. Jesus calls on us to give of ourselves.

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As I write this, am reminded of the amazing ideas that I have had but since I couldn’t make time for them they fell off. They never materialized. I wonder what are those ideas and projects that have also died because you couldn’t make time for them. Right now, I’m part of a team that is involved in anti-corruption efforts but since people are not available to meet, things seem to be stalling. Some of the team members are already giving up. As a leader, what are those ideas and projects that never worked because you were not available or visible? Or those who were visible changed the idea into something else.

As a following of Jesus, how present are you to move the needle? Are you just full of great ideas and thoughts but you are not there to see them come to fruition?

If this resonates with you, seek to be visible, present, available to the things you value and prioritize. Look for a small community of friends who you can learn to do this together with… Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journey of being present. You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be a small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you…

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By Gabriel Achayo. 

Service with Joy

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I believe that service offered without joy helps neither the server or the served.

Many of us find ourselves in positions of service whether for compensation or voluntarily. It’s very easy just to do what you are to do and tick a box. This in many cases doesn’t always bring the expected satisfaction. A service offered deep from the heart with joy refreshes and brings meaning both to the recipient of the service and the provider of the service. This is whether it’s compensated or not.

The best way to serve is to know that whatever service I offer goes beyond the action, the material, the physical manifestation that transpires. It goes deeper and it should be intended to bring meaning, dignity, and significance to both the parties involved. It boils down to the reason we serve; the WHY? Why do I choose to serve? What motivates/inspires me to want to serve?

How do you find joy in the service you offer if the main reason you are doing it is that you have to? Many of us are trapped in things that we really don’t like but we have to do it. We do it to fit in, make ends meet, make other people happy at our own expense. This is a complicated situation and I may not clearly understand you. The reason you do what you are doing. But is it possible to find joy in doing what you don’t like? Is it possible to look at it from a different paradigm? I believe the minute you seek to find joy in whatever you do, then you find significance and satisfaction. This could lead to you being able to find other opportunities and hopefully you to discovering what you like and hence enjoy doing. Some of us are lucky to combine our joys with what we do, but most are not that lucky.

Image Credit: http://daughtersofthedeep.com/2017/01/18/finding-joy-within-faith/

I believe finding joy in what you do starts primarily with how you view yourself in what you do. Whatever you believe about yourself is what you keep communicating to people. So if you are full of joy, you communicate the same to those around you. The converse is true. One of my favorite Stephen Coveys quotes is “I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” This is easier said than done. It can just be another statement we say to make us feel good or nicely advise someone. But can this be true in your case? Are you able to truly say, that as much as I don’t like what I do, I will enjoy doing it? What is the one thing that will make you say that? If you can’t find it, then make a change. Don’t be acted upon, act. Don’t waste your precious life? As they say, you only live once.

We quickly would like to think, believe and maybe say, “I’ll find joy when I get that job”, “when I do this or that”. “If I only had a good boss?” “If I could just have more room to do what I please?” We let life pass us by because we are waiting for that day that we will do what we like. One of my very good friend like asking, “Who told you, you will get there?” “What guarantee do you have that your boss will change?” Or “that you will even get married” or “go through the stage you are looking forward to.” Why let the present pass you by as you wait for an elusive future. Why not use the present to prepare you for your joyful future? Why not practice now how you will enjoy what you like one day? Because honestly, this might just be it. You never know when the unthinkable might hit you. Not intended to scare but that’s the reality. I believe what matters most is how we respond to what happens to us in life, or what life throws our way.

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I love Gandhi’s story. While people criticised him because he would not join everyone else in complaining and condemning the British Empire, he focused on doing something. He made a decision to do what he could do. He quietly and slowly built a huge amount of influence by responding differently. He gained a huge support, trust, confidence in the countryside. Though he held no office or political position, through compassion, courage, fasting and moral persuasion he eventually becomes who we celebrate now. I bet he found joy in doing what he was doing and that’s why many were impacted. Your circumstance might require a totally different response from this. But are you ready to act on it?

Stephen Covey tells the story of a nurse in one of his sessions who understood that she could choose her response. This nurse cared full-time for “the most miserable, ungrateful man you can possibly imagine…This man has made my life miserable.” As she listened to Covey speak about the fact that no one can hurt you without your consent and that she had chosen to be miserable, she thought that Covey didn’t really understand her circumstances. But she began to ask herself, “Do I have the power to choose my response?” When she realized that she had chosen to be miserable, she also realized that she could choose to not be miserable.

“At that moment I stood up. I felt as though I was being let out of San Quentin. I wanted to yell to the whole world. ‘I am free! I am let out of prison. No longer am I going to be controlled by the treatment of some person.’” (p.73)

If this resonates with you, commit to finding joy in whatever service you offer. Look for a small community of friends who you can learn to do this together with. Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journey of being proactive and intentionally seek joy in life as this yields significance and satisfaction to everyone directly or indirectly affected by you.  You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be a small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you…

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By Gabriel Achayo. 

Followers of Jesus

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I believe until the followers of Jesus choose to be present, all the efforts to transform the world are in vain.

Many confess to knowing or having met Jesus but we still have broken and failing societies/communities. We have a shortage of true followers of Jesus. We speak about Jesus and his teachings but we are not committed to living them out. I love this quote, "God became man, moved into our neighborhood and became a small businessman; a carpenter.” Many so-called followers of Jesus are waiting to go to heaven. They don't realize that our life here and now counts a lot to Jesus.

The kingdom is to be experienced down here and now as it is in heaven. So the followers of Jesus need to address the concerns raised by Jesus when he say, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'LORD, when did we see you hungry and fed you, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invited you in, or needing clothes and clothed you? When did we see you sick or in prison and went to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'”

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I wonder what these means in your context but all these are clear signs of what Jesus is all about. He came so that we may have life and have it in abundance. Not half, not a percentage but in full. Having life in abundance is not just all about you making sure all your needs and desire are overflowing but is in living out what moved Jesus. It's in loving God with all your heart, mind, & soul and in loving neighbor as you love yourself. It's in acting in the long-term best interest of your neighbor. It's in fighting for the highest possible good of your neighbor. 

We are called upon to follow Jesus in the marketplace, in our daily activities. Nothing is excluded from this. In all circles of influence; self, family, team, organization, and community. As we do whatever we do, we are to live out Jesus teachings. This is not just meant for those in the mainstream ministry, but for all. Whether it's in your business, working for the government, working for someone who you probably don't like so much, you are still to follow Jesus.

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We all have good intentions and we judge ourselves by that. But our actions are wanting. It’s our actions that bring impact to people. It’s our actions that show evidence that we are followers. It’s not our intentions. No one can really say, “I have experienced your intentions and I like them. Your intentions have really impacted my life. I am different because you have good intentions towards me”. They might never even know of your intentions towards them. But, intentions are a good starting point. We ought to follow through on our intentions by acting on them. I believe, an intention could be planted in us by God because he wants us to impact others. He wants us to act in the long-term best interest of those He brings our way. So for that reason, He could plant an idea in your head and heart, then you start thinking through it and it becomes your intention. What counts really at the end of all these is what you do. You could leave it at the intention stage or let it come out as an action that will impact on others.

As a follower of Jesus, how are you living out the teaching of Jesus? Are you giving your intentions legs? How are you following Jesus? Are you present? What do you need, as a follower of Jesus, to be fully present in self, family, team, organization, and community?

If this resonates with you, go ahead to evaluate your way of life. Look for a small community of friends who you can do this together with. Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journeys of following Jesus. You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be as small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you…

By Gabriel Achayo. 

Challenging the Status Quo

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I believe in challenging the status quo for real transformation.

Mostly we like to keep things as they are if they are working for us irrespective of whether they have a bad or good effect on those around us. We like to fit in. We like to conform.

We are called upon to be transformed by the renewal of our mind and that we should no longer conform; maintain the status quo. This might make us odd, the strange one, and the misfit - the one who spoils the party. We may face alienation, rejection, failure, conflict etc, but would we rather walk on the wide path to doom or stay on the narrow path to liberation. This doesn’t mean we have to rebel and make all the noise, it just means we have to stand out in the crowd and count for something, do something, obey the call, listen to the small still voice inside you and follow through your conviction.

We are all wired differently; there are those of us who are quick and good at challenging the status quo, while there are those of us who struggle with the thought of it. A major reason why we may not challenge the status quo mostly is always Fear. Fear can make us accept things as they are and just survive through. 

There are four fears that could limit us from experiencing the real transformation: the fear of powerlessness, the fear of rejection, fear of conflict and fear of failure. Whenever we are faced by a situation, we need to ask ourselves, is it fear limiting me from moving forward? If so, what’s the fear? Once you know what your fear is, you need to ask yourself whether you want to cope with it or confront it. Either way, there are consequences to your decision. Coping with fear tends to entrench our habitual use of defensive reactions; whereby, confronting fear tends to strengthen us and diminish the potency of fear. Successfully confronting fear leads to increased ability to maintain clarity of perception and judgment in times of extreme stress. Confronting fear enables us to decrease the fear of failure by increasing our ability to accept the possibility of it. Confronting fear increases our ability to risk and to fight for what we believe. Our ability to know what needs to be done and doing it without conforming comes evident. Our capacity for heroic actions is increased if we confront our fears.

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It doesn’t mean that you will never feel fear and a strong urge to maintain the status quo. What it means is that you will have the ability to overcome fear and act decisively while feeling enormous fear and emotion. You don’t lose fear; you overcome it and learn to respond clearly despite its presence.

Don’t be trapped in maintaining a status quo because of fear, but be willing to stretch yourself, to jump, to go an extra mile because I believe as human beings, the only constant thing is change. We can’t be the same yesterday, today, and forever more. We have to embrace change and the only way to intentionally embrace change is to learn to confront our fears; the four fears: powerlessness, conflict, failure, and rejection, because these four will block clarity in our lives.

I find myself always wanting to enjoy things as they are. But as a leader, I have had to learn how to confront my fears. To face them and rise above the fear acknowledging that it’s better to be liberated than to be the trapped in a status quo. I have had to face the consequences of confronting my fears. Some of them have made me regret while others have brought great outcomes that have made me celebrate. No matter what, we have to move on.

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I recently had a conversation with someone I respect about being on a journey of faith. Risking it all to jump and letting God take care of you: making a calculated risk to experience something different. God is waiting for us to show that we trust Him to come through. This is faith.

If this resonates with you, seek to wisely challenge the status quo. Look for a small community of friends who you can learn to do this together with. Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journey of faith. You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be a small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you…

 Image Credits: http://www.businessmalawi.com

By Gabriel Achayo.

“I had no Choice”

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I believe when under pressure from outside, we need to stop, take a break and think clearly.

Life is full of unpleasant surprises that may pressure us to make decisions that we end up regretting. It’s never that serious. This is a statement I say and I try to live by. During those moments, I strongly believe we need to rise above the situation, look beyond the situation; the big picture, step aside out of the storm and get space to think clearly. If we fail to do this, whatever we do might be disastrous especially if it’s a very crucial issue.

God is always in control of everything and nothing catches Him by surprise. God doesn’t have a crisis meeting because something He didn’t know has just happened. Something He didn’t think through. The situation might not be our preferred one but God is fully aware of what you are going through and will for sure provide a way out if only you choose to focus on Him at that point. No temptation(situation) has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

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Those who come out as wise are the ones who do not react to everything but those who respond after careful consideration and weighing out the consequences of their action. They then, responding fully are aware of the responsibility that their response brings. We admire such people and would want to be like them. We wonder how come they don’t work themselves up. How come they are calm. I believe it’s because they have chosen to always consider the bigger picture and are willing to lose the fight sometimes in order to win the war.

Allow me to borrow and paraphrase from Steve Covey’s material on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People; Reactive responses are guided by feelings, not values. When someone or something harm us we just react - without thinking. If someone slaps them on the cheek, they just burst out and box the guy in the face, without thinking, without choosing their response, they simply react. In contrast to these, Proactive choices are guided by values. Instead of just reacting you pause for a moment and select a response that is in line with your values. In our case, as followers of Jesus, we need to ask ourselves "What would Jesus do in this Situation." When we live according to Jesus’ principles, no matter what our reactions, our sinful desires, or our friends are telling us, we ought to be proactive. Remember, Proactive choices are guided by our values, not reactions.  Even if a situation or behaviour of another person is completely out of our control, we still are able to choose our response to that situation or behaviour. The ability or habit of withholding an initial reaction, such as anger or violence, in order to take a moment and reflect on the best response under the circumstance - is what we are talking about when we refer to being proactive.

I feel bad sometimes when I hear a statement like, “I had no choice” or “I had to do it.” We always have choices. Failing to exercise that freedom to choose is a choice in itself. So when you think you had no choice, you already made a choice. But if only we would stop to reconsider our choices so we respond based on our values and what we believe in, we would experience a much better outcome. The issue is, you might have no control over what life brings your way, but how you respond to that is fully your choice.

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I have found myself in situations where I react instead of responding. I later play the scenario in my head and mostly I always feel I could have done better than what I did. Maybe if I listened better, maybe if I didn’t say what I said or if I walked away from the toxic situation and came back later when am sober and clear in thought. I end up being full of “maybe” statements. Fortunate enough, I can still choose how I respond to the feeling I have at the moment.

How many times have you done something under pressure that you regretted later? What can you do differently given the same pressure again? How many times have you used the statement “I had no choice”? When was the last time you were truly intentional in a situation? How was the outcome?

As a leader and a follower of Jesus, the statement “I had no Choice” or “I had to do it”, or “they made me do it” should never appear in your vocabulary. You always have a choice. But this choice has to be informed by a particular value system that you hold high in your life. The belief system that you ascribe to. We should always be intentional, not accidental. That way we are able to fully live a life of significance and purpose. A life of impact and influence.

If this resonates with you, seek to exercise your freedom of choose in every situation. Look for a small community of friends who you can learn to do this together with. Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journey of being proactive and intentional in all circumstances.  You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be a small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you…

Image Credits: http://www.businessmalawi.com

 By Gabriel Achayo. 

Trust

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I believe trust is the currency in any relationship. It’s one of my 5 core personal values.

Every time people want to hear the magic words, “I TRUST YOU” even if they don’t deserve it. More so in any relationship be it between two people, community, business and others. Trust is the most powerful responsibility you can put on someone. You can trust someone to disappoint you or trust them not to disappoint you.

It takes time to trust someone. I have come to appreciate that to be trusted you have to be trustworthy. You have to display an element of being worthy of others’ trust. Trust is built as a result of tiny little actions we do every day and every moment. It’s not about one big grand gesture to prove to someone or people that they can trust you but the least actions done even to those who may not deserve it.

Any relationship that is not based on trust is very expensive in time, resources, energy and it wears the people involved out. But a relationship between two trustworthy individuals who are committed to trusting each other is very progressive and rewarding. It makes life less complicated and the benefits are more than you can quantify. Once trust is betrayed by a single mistake, it’s hard to rebuild it. It’s more expensive to bring it to the level it was before the betrayal and it rarely gets back to the former level.

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Trust is more of the attitude, the why, and the how. Not much of the action. Once you make a commitment to be a trustworthy individual and be willing to extend trust to others, you have to live that out. You have to pre-decide that you are willing to face the risk of being taken advantage of, being cheated and more often than not, losing out. This is a tricky one but it’s until you count the cost, and you are willing to pay it, then you can truly trust others.

In order to be trusted, you have to demonstrate credibility, character, chemistry, and competency. All these are things you have to commit to. While chemistry might rely more on the third party, the rest are solely dependent on you. Are you credible, is your character questionable, and are you competent in whatever you are committing to. My relationships with my friends have been largely based on trust and I always believe that if you promise to do something you have to keep your word. This speaks to your credibility, character, and competency.

Allow me to give an example of my relationship with my mechanic. I trust the guy. He was referred to me by a friend. The first day I met him, we were going to Limuru to see a car I had hoped to purchase. The seller of the car had manipulated the car engine. He knew I could not understand his mother tongue, and thought he would collude with my new found friend to con me into buying the fake car he was selling. Now, I had just met this guy like in 30 minutes. I had no proof of his trustworthiness. But how he handled this situation, made me trust him. I never bought the car thanks to him. We saw other cars and he would ask questions and check things that I would not have a clue on. He shielded me from being overcharged, buying a fake car, and also from being taken advantage of. He became my guy due to the experience I had with him during that season. We developed a very trustworthy relationship with him. The day I got the car I finally bought, he had to okay it. He gave me a thumbs up on the car and I bought it. Well, the car has served me to date. And he has the history of all the maintenance and repairs that have been done on that car. I have referred a lot of people to him.

Today I just learned that he now owns two spare part shops in Industrial area. Everyone I have referred to him can attest to the kind of a guy he is. I have never been disappointed by him. If he can’t fix something, he will openly tell me he can’t but will go through the trouble of finding who will do it. As I write this today, he’s fixing my car and he has given me his car to use until mine is ready. What more can I ask from a trusted friend?

This gentleman is competent, has the character, is credible and the chemistry between us is there.

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I have a lot of relationships in my life that have been totally developed on trust. My colleagues, my mentors, my friends and I can go on and on. I have been disappointed in a number of them but I’d rather keep working on me being trustworthy and extending trust to others than the converse. I very well know that I have also disappointed those who trusted me in one way or another.

As a leader and a follower of Jesus, are you trustworthy? Are you credible? Do you have an unquestionable character? How competent are you on the things you have committed yourself to do for or with people? How are you committed to building chemistry with the people in your sphere of influence or those you would like to build any form of relationship with?

If this resonates with you, seek to be trustworthy and extend trust to others. Look for a small community of friends who you can do this together with… Being accountable to a few and practicing with a few. It’s about building a community of friends to share each other’s journey of being trustworthy individuals who are developing relationships based on trust.  You have to be deeply committed to each other and desire to see each other grow in this journey. You have to create a support, encouragement and accountability platform for each other. The community has to be a small as possible so that there is active engagement by all involved.

Find a community around you and see if these conversations make sense to you…

Image Credits: http://www.wca-sa.org

By Gabriel Achayo.