BrainBongo Blog: 2020

BRAINBONGO PRESENTS NYOTA, A WEB SERIES

2:31:00 PM
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WHY ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS WON'T MAKE YOU HAPPIER

While setting and achieving goals can improve your happiness, being unhappy now and believing you will be happy once you achieve your goals is an erroneous belief.

“I’ll be happy when . . .” Fill in the blank with that one thing, that one goal that you think will finally make you happy. Land your dream job? Win that big client? Buy a house? While setting and achieving goals can improve your happiness, being unhappy now and believing you will be happy once you achieve your goals is an erroneous belief. Happiness expert Gillian Mandich says this way of thinking can actually lead to depression and toxic emotions.

“People often focus too much on the salient high points (the vacation, voyage, or feast) and too little on the day-to-day events that have a more profound effect on overall happiness,” says Mandich. Living in pursuit of these big life moments won’t actually lead to lasting, meaningful happiness.

The reason for this is something called “hedonic adaptation.” Humans are remarkably good at adapting to changes in our lives. This trait is beneficial to us in many ways to get through hard times and adapt to new surroundings; however, it also means that when we achieve something that should bring great happiness; such as getting a new car, a new job, or a new relationship, we adapt too quickly. Those new things become familiar very quickly and that amazing burst of happiness is just that, a temporary dose.

But that’s not the only reason living for the big goals won’t lead to lasting happiness. Mandich says only 10% of our happiness is determined by our circumstances, while 40% of our happiness is determined by our everyday thoughts and behavior and 50% of our happiness is genetically determined. So, if being happy once we achieve that major milestone only accounts for 10% of happiness, thinking you’ll be happy when you achieve that big goal just isn’t going to cut it. Achieving long-lasting happiness means focusing on daily doses, rather than just those major events.

Building your happiness muscle means finding happiness in your daily life. Here are some simple ways to find more happiness in the day-to-day:

TAKE PAUSES TO ENJOY THE SMALL PLEASURES IN LIFE

Taking a moment to savor happiness is a great way to be mindful of how you feel when you’re happy. Savor a delicious cup of coffee, take a moment to appreciate time spent with a friend. Instead of letting positive feelings pass with little attention, take the time to acknowledge, appreciate, and enjoy them. “Savoring can be a potent happiness booster,” says Mandich. This simple mindfulness exercise can help you to discover happiness in everyday occasions.

BE MORE GENEROUS

“When you do something nice for someone it releases endorphins that activate the parts of your brain associated with happiness, pleasure, and social connection,” says Mandich. Find simple ways to be generous such as buying a stranger behind you in line a cup of coffee, or giving someone a compliment.

BE MORE GRATEFUL

Practicing gratitude not only increases your happiness but also protects you from stress, anxiety, and depression. “A regular gratitude practice is one of the easiest ways to counter the brain’s negativity bias (the tendency to cling to negative thoughts and things in the environment),” says Mandich. Create a gratitude journal and write down five things you’re grateful for every day. Or simply take a moment in your day to feel grateful. This could be feeling grateful for your friends and family, or for the sunshine after a dreary, rainy week.

GET MORE EXERCISE

Regular exercise helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. “Happiness and exercise are both independently associated with the release of endorphins (feel-good hormones) and an increase in immune function; it also decreases cortisol (a stress hormone),” says Mandich. Find ways to incorporate even a few minutes of exercise into your daily activities can help boost your overall happiness.

This article originally appeared on fastcompany.com

5:57:00 AM
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HOW MEETING MOHAMMED DEWJI (MO) CHANGED MY LIFE

Ideas & Creativity

"Life is about numbers ! Life begins with a number and ends with a number!" - Clarence Avant (The Black Godfather)

Hello Bongo Brains! It has been a while, hasn't? A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. It is amazing what can happen within just few months. A lot has changed and no one could have predicted that we could witness so much change within just few months and something tells me there is much more 2020 has in store. It is just my hope we are going to start experiencing good things for a change. Not to take too much of your time let me jump straight into the subject I wanted to share today.

BrainBongo started operating in the late 2014 from my living room. I was converting into a studio whenever I had I photoshoot and a lot of times the bedroom dubbed as a changing room for my clients. In 2016, Mo through his Foundation started Mo Entrepreneurship Competition and I thought it was a good opportunity to learn through the process and perhaps win the prize (10 million TZS).

Because the business was still on a start-up phase (barely over a year in operation), I didn't have much to show for it but I was confident that the business idea was valid and with a capital push from the prize I strongly believed it could make all the difference so I threw my hat in the ring.

If I am not mistaken, it was said they received about 300 applications and luckily BrainBongo was short-listed among 20 applicants that were selected to move to the next step of the competition.

Now this was a big deal to me because it reaffirmed my belief that my idea is valid and other experienced individuals in business also think so.

After the shortlist I was called in for interview with Mo Dewji and a jury of other people who were involved in the process. I was excited and scared at the same time because I wanted it so bad but also I wasn't sure if I was ready to stand before the richest person in Tanzania and the youngest billionaire in Africa and pitch my business idea. When I got to his office there were few other applicants that were scheduled for the interview on the same date and we were directed to the boardroom. I had prepared a fancy power point presentation, I was ready to face the giant BUT something happened few minutes before they started calling us in for the interview.

Mo's assistant (Barbra) walked into the boardroom and cheerfully welcomed us. She informed us that Mo's schedule was very tight that day and that each of us will have only 10-15 minutes to pitch our idea and there was just no time to go through each applicants' presentation so we have to present without the PPT's. After all, it is your business that shouldn't be hard, right? You tell me

I entered the meeting room enthusiastically, greeted everyone and then the stopwatch started. I presented my business for about 5 minutes getting into the details about my vision which is helping businesses with proprietary yet affordable advertising solutions and why that money would help take it to the next level. You can read more about BrainBongo and the amazing work we have been doing on our website at www.brainbongo.co.tz .

Then, Mo calmly interrupted me and informed me that he has gotten a pretty good idea about my business and wanted to ask a few questions especially about my finances (numbers). He asked about how much we made last year, how much I was paying for rent, how many people I work with, how much do I pay them etc. While answering these questions he was writing down on a piece of paper. I was getting that tense vibe like that one you see when someone speak to a therapist and the therapist writes down as you speak always wondering what they are writing.

I think our session exceeded the allotted time but I didn't notice the time passing because everything about it was exciting and equally challenging. He was asking very specific questions (a few that I wasn't fully aware of ) but I think I did my best and then he started speaking. He told me that numbers are the most important indicators of one's business performance and with them you can know if the business is going to fail or succeed. Also, it is important to know your number as a business owner. At any given time you should be able to know your revenue, your production costs, operating costs, profits margins etc. something that I wasn't fully aware of at the time. I was making a lot of mistakes, I thought I was doing better than I actually was and everything became clear that day. My life and business have never been the same since.

Although I didn't eventually win the prize but I won something that day. I got a better understanding of my business, my finances from one of the most brilliant minds in business and that has paid me/saved me much more money than the prize ever could and for that I am forever grateful to Mo.

If you enjoy reading these stories or there is something that resonates with you be sure to leave a comment below and it will surely make my day! Until next post

1:37:00 PM
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WHAT'S THE STORY? FT. RAQEY MOHAMED

Ideas & Creativity

It was on December 8th, 2014 when I met @raqey_allaraqya at the Nyama Choma Festival event on the UDSM ground. I had never met the man but I was a huge follower of his work. I was just starting my career in photography and it was literally a dream come true to see the legend in person but I couldn’t gather the courage to face him directly so, I befriended a photographer on his team (@leonmcswagg) and urged him to make an introduction which he gracefully did. I got to talk to Raqey and I said something in the lines of ‘Hey man I really admire your work and I am just starting so I would like for you to mentor me so that I can be like you’. I knew it was a long shot as he might get that a lot from upcoming photographers but I was hopeful and genuinely passionate and I think he must have felt it (I don’t know I just saying 😂). So, he told me to meet him the following week at his office and there I was with my Nikon D3100 ready to learn. When I entered his office he welcomed me and asked if I have a portfolio with me so he could see what I had already shot.

To be honest, at the time I didn’t know what a portfolio was but I just figured out the part about needing to see the pictures so I handled him my camera. He previewed my images thoroughly and he picked one particular image and he asked me one of the most profound questions that shaped my career and still does till today; WHAT’S THE STORY? Because that’s what you should always ask yourself before pressing the shutter

Long story short, he took me under his guidance and I got a lot of support from him and his team. 3 months later he offered me a full-time job and the rest is history.

Now the appreciation part: @raqey_allaraqya is responsible for the careers of many individuals in the media production industry today both directly and indirectly including my own. I guess the best way to show my /our gratitude is to give opportunities to other people coming in the industry without conditions or because we know them. We also have to level up and set the standards so that they can have something to look up too. Thanks, @raqey_allaraqya GOD BLESS YOU