20 Days Into 2020: Looking Back and Moving Forward

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz3cDzqHyp1/

Almost 20 days into 2020, the year has started on steroids. A lot has begun, and there are much more in the pipeline. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all, my clients, guests, readers, listeners, connections but also my friends and mentors for a great 2019.

Here are what I am grateful for in 2019 and what I am excited about in 2020

What I am grateful for in 2019: Key highlights

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz3cDzqHyp1/

 

  1. My exploration of the world continued. Here are top new cities discovered in 2019
    1. Whitstable

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzldrY3HLzB/

  1. Canterbury

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzh6-nYn9R9/

  1. Southampton

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByNIJQeHIFH/

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByK19BDnqZD/

  1. Agome Seva

https://www.instagram.com/p/BsS_WjhHk8B/

  1. Cairo

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvW1YxMH8mK/

  1. Luxor

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwVCJRkHHsO/

  1. Dar-Es Salam

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2sNDuLHGzL/

  1. Arusha

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rimt0HeWA/

  1. Zanzibar

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3Y9IkHllRC/

  1. Dubai

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4fAKYsnBUj/

  1. Montreal

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5AduIQHH7T/

  1. Recorded and delivered 48 amazing episodes of the Meaningful Work, Meaningful Life Podcast. Subscribe to get the latest episode each week when it’s releasedhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BwmuvmVnzUg/
  1. Speaking at the first Women in Manufacturing 4.0 in Montreal, Canada and meeting inspiring women from across the world. Watch an extract.
  2. Seeing the first AWEC 200 African women entrepreneurs becoming Alumnae and welcoming another 200 women in the cohort 2 https://www.thecge.net/awec/
  3. Delivered 100+ hours of business mentoring & advisory to entrepreneurs/ business owners
  4. Seeing the Leadership Summit in Dar-es-Salaam trending on Twitter in two countries!
  5. Detoxing & re-energising my body; changed diet to a gluten-free & dairy-free mostly plant-based diet. Side effect: I can now wear the clothes of my 20s.
  6. Deep work to get rid of some of the internal baggage that no longer serve me, and in the process of descending in my shadow, reconnected to my ‘Why’ and found a renewed sense of identity. It was such a defining moment!
  7. Got back to practice yoga and doing daily exercise. Nothing crazy, just a routine of 20-30 minutes daily exercise; this is what most of us need.
  8. Started to cycle again after more than 15 years. I forgot how liberating it feels to be on a bike. I appreciate the many parks that London has to offer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B01LzCtHxch/

What I am looking forward to in 2020

In no particular order, here are my top 10 priorities this year

  1. Empower 2020 purpose-driven entrepreneurs, CEOs and professionals through my programs
  2. Speak at 10 events to share my message. If you’d like to book me for your event, check out my speaker page
  3. Release the French version of my book Personal Branding in the digital age (Didn’t manage to complete the translation last year. How difficult can that be to translate it back into my native language?!)
  4. Cross the bar of 100+ episodes for MWML with even more inspiring entrepreneurs sharing their journey and practical tips to live our best life now. If you know amazing people who will be perfect guests for the show, please use this form
  5. Launching the Leading Voice Circle, an exclusive membership club to get training and accountability if you are looking to become leading voice in your field. Join the waitlist to get notified when the door opens.
  6. Visit at least 10 new cities
  7. Continue my work-life integration with stronger mind body spirit connection: keep my health at the top of priority and my energy high up; continue daily exercise at least for 20 minutes daily (nothing crazy!)
  8. Learn to play the Ukulele. I am already at 5% as I bought one. If you have tips to share, please do so
  9. Catch up with friends and family more frequently and meet new amazing friends
  10. Have fun and stay happy ☺

Each year I pick a theme to encapsulate my goal for the year: ‘Focused Vision’ is my keyword for 2020. ‘Vision’ because I just reconnected to my Why: ‘empower people to feel valued’ and because, without vision we navigate in the darkness with no direction. ‘Focused’ because it doesn’t matter to have a vision if it’s not lived every single day

One last thing. Over the years, one of the key lessons I’ve learned to achieve my goals is to raise the sense of urgency. It is easy to let life happen and time sleep by when we don’t have a clear deadline to complete a goal. Don’t let that happen to you in 2020 and make sure you find a way to increase that sense of urgency every single day.

What your top priorities are for 2020? Let me know.

Until next time, Dream, Act and make an Impact.

PS: Do you know that making your goals public means that you are likely to stick to them?

PPS: Tag a friend and ask what their top goals for 2020 are and what they are doing to raise the sense of urgency