Are You Brain Dead, Finance Wise?

Being brain dead means "being locked in habitual thinking patterns". You wake up everyday go to work come back bathe, eat and sleep or you are the jobless guy who wake up every dawn to drop his CVs at different offices. You follow this routine day in day out but to your surprise nothing much changes in your life and it is not going to change soon.
The morning of April, 9th 2013, will remain edged into the memories of many Kenyans who thronged Moi international Sports Centre to celebrate the inauguration of Kenya's fourth President. As one of the people who witnessed the events of that,  from my sofa set branch, I can't fail to notice the number of small traders who swamped the ceremony with all manner of merchandise from as early as 6 a.m. They sold national flags, framed photos of the new president, white hats to screen out the scorching sun, key holders, drinks, snacks, name it. The sad truth is I did not participate in the thoroughfare right in my neighbourhood. I was brain dead to the opportunity.

What should we do to develop awareness? First, it is not that we are dumb, we are just not aware because our past experience get in the way. Our brain is an incredible thing, an awesome, untapped resource. It can store an almost  infinite amount of information. you can learn a dozen languages, get eight doctorate degrees, memorize the entire encyclopaedia from A to Z and still only use a tenth of your brain potential. The brain runs your respiratory, digestion, cell growth, hormonal level - virtually your entire body -  and you are not even aware of it.

The good news is that you don't need to be aware for your brain to do what it does. There is however one thing the brain is good at and that is filtering of non-essential information and ignoring it. The filtering is mostly based on your past experiences. The advice is that we must seek out new experiences to start spotting opportunities. To develop business awareness we should go for trade shows, attend exhibitions, travel abroad or read trade magazines to build your experience and orient our thinking in the selected areas of interest.

Secondly, we should look out for new trends, fads or fashions in order to position ourselves to take advantage of these new business opportunities. It might help to look at the classified section of the daily newspaper for quick start offers to start you off - watch for conmen though. Thirdly, it will be helpful to find business mentors or simply join a new someone currently running a successful business. Be pragmatic about how you stay alert and aware of your environments. Do not just follow laid schedules; think, plan your day and always look for new opportunities.