You grow stronger with practice
“I’m not the smartest or strongest person but I’ve always accepted it takes years to achieve health milestones. I’m committed to doing the extra work for extraordinary results
- Wairimu Ndung’u”
In this edition:
Pain is the ultimate opportunity to learn strength
Pursue learning opportunities, not a career path
Key gender terms in my own words
STORY
It’s not over until I say so
Last week I had the honour of sharing my life story on a podcast one year after I applied to go on the show.
Working for school fees and bills, sleeping four hours a night, regular panic attacks — that was my life when I started listening to it four years ago.
As I spoke into the recorder, the host admired my self-awareness. Between asking for a high school switch late in the year and sitting for final exams without completing the syllabus, I’m a bit of a walking miracle.
There's something to be said about pushing yourself when it's reasonably okay to stop. While I told people the transfer was purely due to teacher strikes, I was also navigating chronic depression and needed a reset.
A change in scenery would give me the chance to somewhat begin again. I often see suffering as an opportunity to acquire new strength much like Tara Davis-Woodhall.
She nearly missed the Olympic trials because of debilitating cramps after being admitted to hospital the previous month. "It was the hardest competition of my life," says Tara after throwing up multiple times due to painful cramps.
After placing 6th at the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s long jump event, she won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Shortly after I transferred to a new high school I was diagnosed with adenomyosis, and had to fight for my second chance with that in mind. It didn’t matter to me, I was going to make the opportunity count.
You’ll have to wait for the podcast for the full story but ten years ago I had big health goals and I’m living through them — shorter less painful periods and managing bipolar with only routine and exercise.
I’m not the smartest or strongest person but I’ve always accepted it takes many years to achieve health milestones. I’m committed to doing the extra work for extraordinary results.
SPOTLIGHT
Men seek support groups and counselling for trauma recovery after defilement [Read]
Accurate diagnosis calls for collaborative care to save patients time and money [Read]
Once a coder, now Joan Gikonyo is pursuing timber engineering [Read]
RUNDOWN
Transferable skills in action
The story
In a previous edition, my former COO, Alistair Gould, shared that he considered my transferable skills and strengths when mapping out my learner journey.
What are transferable skills?
They are competencies you pick up in one role or job that can be adapted for a different setting despite major differences like industry.
Before joining a fintech startup, my work experience was in entertainment, marketing and health.
Much as I didn’t have a finance or tech background, I got used to switching between clients every 3 to 4 weeks in my copywriting role. I learned to write across industries; cars, dog shoes, food, real estate, tech, human resources, health, marketing etc.
I learned how to be extremely adaptable while hiring and training other writers to do the same.
How did these skills help me at Tulix?
Adaptability allowed me to enjoy the learning curve in fintech rather than fixate on my knowledge gaps.
Coaching other writers taught me how to ask quality questions and quickly learn from my teammates who were developers.
Leadership taught me how to quickly think on my feet and make decisions around customer complaints while consulting with leadership.
Instead of a career path, I prefer to select opportunities based on how much I’ll learn about the business and mentors I can shadow to fast-track my learner journey.
I learn best through doing.
STUDY WITH ME
I believe continuous learning is a cheat code for sustained success so I spend a third of my time studying. Here are this week’s top picks:
Listen: Increase Your Frustration Tolerance to Reach Your Goals
Watch: A Hard Life is a Good Life
Read: Set a Bar so High Average People Think You're a Psychopath
IN MY WORDS
Where does true equality start?
While pursuing my gender equality changemaker certification I learned two key concepts that are useful for any student or advocate:
Gender equity
This entails curating reasonable accommodations for different genders based on their unique needs so they have equal access to the same opportunities.
It challenges us to go granular in our approach to designing solutions so that everyone has a shot at enjoying the same opportunities at the same pace.
Gender mainstreaming
This involves integrating a gender perspective like historic discrimination and current biases when designing, implementing and reviewing policies and spending programmes. That way all genders can benefit from development efforts.
These are my interpretations of these concepts that have shaped my approach to gender work. I invite you to reflect on your definitions as we continue on this learner journey.
Life is a series of no’s waiting for your actions to create a yes. Sustained action is painful, much like writing even though it’s been ten years for me.
I believe in showing up no matter how long it takes or how uncomfortable it feels because the summit? It’s worth it. Every single time.