What I learnt from jumping without a parachute.
We all have heard of the common Latin phrase “fortis Fortuna adiuvat”, meaning fortune favors the bold, which has a really nice ringing sound to the ear.
Instinctively as humans we avoid things that bring us pain whether physical or psychological as a defense mechanism to protect ourselves. A number of psychologists have tried to describe emotional pain but I liked Edwin S. Shneidman definition better: “how much you hurt as a human being. It is mental suffering; mental torment”.
In a world were everyone is running away from first signs of unpleasantness, I believe being few of those who are willing to take the bull by the horns positions you at a very favorable spot. I used to think those who leave a dent in the world had some sort of super human ability or gift until I realised we were not that different on base-line. What made them special was the fact that they only cared more about the change they wanted to see in the world and they had a lot of persistence.
Lessons from Dawa
We began our journey with a plan to build a device which would work with a smart-phone app and facilitate patients to do remote monitoring of their vitals from home and increase utilization of healthcare resources. Through this infrastructure, we would track how and when patients started developing circulatory system problems. However on the journey we realized that this service could be of more immediate benefit to pregnant mothers, as 1400 woman die annually in Zambia alone from pregnancy complications which could be avoidable.
Getting us to were we are today has come with a number of lessons and has also squeezed everything out of us as a team. What am most proud of on our journey is;
- We have gotten closer as a team every-time we face a challenge.
- Our resourcefulness has increased markedly compared to when we started.
- The small milestones we moved increased our momentum and we all now believe the vision is really achievable.
Personally I have grown a lot more from all the lows we faced to get us to were we are today. I believe my threshold and tolerance for emotional pain has increased markedly which is a must have to be able to lead any group of people. Besides the unpleasant lows this journey has given me a more open-mind and increased my persistence factor, qualities important in driving through any new thought patterns or ways of doing things.
Am really excited with the direction we are headed in and cant wait for 2019 to implement all the plans we have set.
Live the future!!
