RESOLUTIONS | 2021 READS: BOOK 1 & 2

Research says that as many as 50% of adults make New Year's resolutions but fewer than 10% keep them for more than a few months (Reference). Research also indicates that in January, goals will be set and by the second week of February they are forgotten about at best, abandoned at worst (Reference). These statements couldn't be truer! Sticking to resolutions is such a hard task. I am a resolutions setter - if there were a word like that, I confirm those findings. Every so often and not necessarily at the beginning of the year, I write down the things I intend to work on. Sometimes I manage to accomplish a huge part of the listed goals, other times I get nothing done. I figured that the only way to stick to my resolutions is to set realistic ones. 

I was a sales & marketing exec for a furniture company for about 2 years after campus. I was overjoyed to have found placement in my field which is marketing and sales and had so much fun selling furniture. Every other month we'd be given sales targets and by the end of the month we'd be required to submit a report showing how close we'd gotten to the target, whether we'd met or surpassed it, etc. When being interviewed for the job (fresh from campus, no experience - I just had my class knowledge), the Turkish marketing manager explained that at some point they would also set targets for us newbies but that would depend on our performance within the 3-month probation period. He advised that before the company could give us their standard targets, we needed to set personal realistic targets and share with him. We did and off we went into the job, marketing and making an occasional sale.

You know how sometimes life beats you at good one then an opportunity to sell yourself comes? Those instances where you apply for a CEO job with qualifications for an Administrative assistant and add on the application that you are a quick learner 😂. Mimi I set a target, very unrealistic you'd think I'd been doing this sales thing for eons. I wrote that with the determination, focus and zeal I had for the job I'd bring in about 1 million worth of sales immediately after probation. Wacha probation iishe my frend...within those three months I'd only sold one chair worth KES 38,000, a sale I made to a friend whom I begged to buy it explaining to him that at least it would show that my sales graph had started to pick up. My target/resolution for the month was unrealistic, I wasn't aware that the market isn't a ready market - because furniture isn't similar to perishable goods - there are levels of decision making and our competitors were also equally aggressive. I needed more time, more knowledge about the products, I needed to consult fellow sales execs, etc. I got the gist of it all after sometime. This one remains to be among my favorite jobs.

Another funny resolution I'd set in 2018 was - 'Give love a chance'. Wadau..😂 ...it's the audacity for me! Sasa how realistic was this resolution? It's not like I would just go out there, probably in my hiking escapades, meet a young hiker and give us a timeline to fall in love. Lakini we live and learn, ama aje? Mambo hubadilika 😉. Anywayz, this year nilisema nitakuwa msomi, nitasoma vitabu sita. Last year quarantine days I thought I'd read more but I only got to read only 2 so this year I wanna push harder, so 6 it is. I love reading storybooks, novels etc, not self help or motivational books coz those I never finish. I love telling stories so it's understandable that I am drawn to stories told by others - fictional or not.

Book 1: Bittersweet ~ Danielle Steel. The story is basically about the tough life choices that a woman has to make with regards to career and family, how the choices affect her and what it means not only to her but also to her children and spouse. It also brings out the impact of friendships at certain levels of life. There are certain friends that would be very instrumental in your life when you're maybe just a single woman navigating life but once you cross over to the married side the dynamics of that friendship is bound to change especially if they haven't reached the same level. Out of 5 stars, this I gave 4.5

Book 2: Mirror of Blood ~ Patrick Ngugi. I got this book in a funny way. We inquired from this Facebook known author whether he had a different book in his store for sale akasema ako nayo. We settled for a delivery day and date. 

When we met he had this book instead of the one I wanted and when asked why that was so, he said that since he'd been promoting his newly published book online he'd gotten so many inquiries about it and didn't check our message keenly, and so he assumed that we wanted his book 😒. 

He is an elderly mzee, he was very apologetic about the mistake, we just had to get it. Tbh, the book didn't really intrigue me much, it had a set books vibe to it but the storyline was good - yet a very controversial topic in this our current world. You gotta read it to find out 😎. The original book was supposed to be a Valentine's Day gift but I got this instead thanks to Mr. Ngugi's buzzing inbox - anyway it's the effort for me! Thank you Ombwedede for the effort! 💖😂 Out of 5 stars, this I give a strong 2.7.

Two done, Four to go!