Performance Review.

Hi Dearies,

So it’s the 16th day of February already. Before we spell out Jack Robinson, it’ll be October and then November and then December and then what??

Remember December 2013? It passed by not too long ago and we were so happy. If not for anything, it ushered in a new year. January came along and you just wrote out this long list of things to do in 2014. You probably did not even write anything out, you have it all in your head. Well if I may ask, how far have you gone? Remember your goals? how you told yourself (for a student) how your result this semester will be nothing short of excellent? how you promised yourself you are gonna finish your bible this year? You probably told yourself you are starting a new business this year or getting a new job or getting married or starting a particular course or doing this or that bla bla? Well, if I may ask again, how far have you gone? Where are you presently? what have you done? Have you even taken steps at all? If wishes were horses they say, everybody will ride on them but thank God they are not, means we have to get up and do something!

 

By His grace, I work in a Bank. I work in a department where there is always action, you can’t be nonchalant, it is at your own risk. Trust me, you don’t really know how it works in this department until you’ve been there. There is money to be made, targets to be met, pressure everywhere, there is always something to do. The thing however is that you are given your budget at the beginning of a new year, you can decide to divide it by twelve and choose to do 1/12 of the total budget every month or you can even decide to do every thing in January and keep the money till December (if you have supernatural powers sha). In theory that’s really fine but in reality, who will leave money in the Bank for a year without touching it at all? The fact that people will keep withdrawing means you have to keep pushing for more deposits. The deposit is just an aspect but that’s what I’m talking about today.

There are meetings we hold on a bi-monthly basis (You don’t wanna hear the full gist). The first one is called ‘mid month MPR-Monthly Performance Review’ and the other one is just MPR. The first one comes up in  the middle of the month. Here you tell the whole house how you’ve fared in Naira and Kobo, what you did to get those results (if you are doing well) and what you will do to get the required result before the end of the month (If you are not doing well) and you don’t just talk prose like one of my ogas will say, you talk Naira and Kobo. The second is MPR-Monthly Performance Review. Here you tell the whole house how you fared, what you did or didn’t do and what the plans for the coming month are. God help you if you did not do well, you sooo will not smile out of the meeting room.

Most times, when the pressure gets to me, I just sit down and think, the kind of commitment I have to this job ehn, if I can apply just half of it to other areas of my life, results for plenty o.

The point I’m trying to make is this, once they dish out everyone’s budget in the beginning of the year, why will they not just leave us to do our thing and bring results in December? The answer is not far-fetched or is it? Nothing will ever be done that way. I’m sure any one will ever meet their target, and story go plenty like anything. And we wonder how Banks make money! It’s not rice and beans my dear, it takes discipline.

Same for you sweetie, if you want results this year, you had better get started on your own personal Monthly Performance Review. Think about it really, I mean, you don’t have anything to lose. Bring out your goals and if you don’t have them written yet, what are you still waiting for? Pick up your pen right away and write something! I remember me some years ago, I used to be really lazy when it comes to stuffs like these. I mean I was in school, my goal was to pass and pass well, so why write it down abeg? If you are like me, I must tell you, you are not helping yourself at all.

“Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets (Yeah, that’s right! or phones or laptops or journals, just write!) that he may run with it who reads it…”-Habbakuk 2:2

You see, what do you run with if you have nothing written? What happens when you get 40% and you think you’ve ‘arrived’? Biko write something! It doesn’t hurt anyone and since it’s your life, 30 minutes or even 3 hours of your time is nothing at all. Dream ‘big’, act ‘big’, pray ‘big’ and ‘big’ things will come to you.

Strategize! Plan! If you want to have done this ‘thing’ come December, what do you need to do now? What steps do you need to take? One step at a time really makes a world of difference. You want to start your own business, start saving right away, read, study, enrol for courses, don’t just sit down and waste away. You want to study the bible in a year, start right away, join bible study groups, I STRONGLY recommend LA family on twitter (LA=Learning & Applying).

We went through the bible in less than a year. Even on days that I could not read, I had people checking up on me, sharing what they’ve read etc. If I did it, you also can do it! There are also other bible study groups you can join, just make sure you are not where you were yesterday.

 

I have things I want to do, areas I need to work on, God knows. I need to work on my  people skills, am a people’s person really, but I can get better. I need to work on my relationships, I know I don’t invest as I should. I want to inspire people, I want to do a whole lot of things, but ‘wanting’ to do and ‘doing’ are two different things. Am I there already? mba o, have I done all that should be done? not so o, but I’m embarking on this journey and I’m inviting you to be a part of what I’ll call PMPR- Personal Monthly Performance review or PWPR=Personal Weekly Performance Review or even PDPR-Personal Daily Performance Review.

I love you really and I want to see you at your best come December. On a monthly basis, i’ll try to write something to remind you of your commitment to yourself.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”- Eleanor Roosevelt.

Get started already!

Blessings,

Bukky.