By BONIFACE NGAHU

Posted  Monday, February 11  2013 at  18:50

In the past, Market Talk pointed out that just opposite the Kenya Wildlife Service gate on Lang’ata Road there is a great talent that has never been fully tapped.

There lies pilots who never flew a plane, doctors who never treated and many unrealised dreams. If you don’t know what this is about, it is in reference to the Lang’ata cemetery. It also refers to dreams that you may never realise in your lifetime.

The Chinese wisdom states that a long journey starts with the first step. One of the greatest hindrances to success is that inability to take the first step. Put in another way, Martin Luther King Jnr said that the future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams.

I also suggest that after dreaming you need to wake up and implement the dream. If you can’t effect it immediately, put it in writing.

In success studies, writing what you want to achieve has been found to separate those who achieve extra ordinary success from those who don’t. The government is very good at this. It developed a strategy in the name of Vision 2030.

Many critics noted that the government has always had long-term strategies since independence that were never realised such as water for all by year 2000 among others.

The optimists like yours truly viewed Vision 2030 positively and started imagining the joy of its fruits.

The vision is like a dream and everyone should be encouraged to dream big. This national dream that is already being in implemented in phases, has started to show signs of action.

I have already enjoyed many rides on Thika Road and other new roads. That stone-age Faiba advertisement guy can download music within seconds because of the fibre optics infrastructure put in place as part of the vision.

One of my joys is the inspiration I get from the other flagship projects within the vision at whatever stage.

I was at the Konza City groundbreaking ceremony the other day. As the president laid the stone in the middle of the open space, I realised the importance of kick starting your own flagship projects.

They may not be as grand as the Silicon Savannah but taking the first step will go a long way in realising your potential. Potential here refers to the fact that you haven’t done it yet.

A few days before, I visited Kitengela in Kajiado where I noticed several cement manufacturing companies and about five universities setting up campuses in the area.

Like Konza, the open land that had been uninhabited for a long time is going to be home to many institutions and that is how potential looks like.

On the way to Konza and Kitengela there is a foot bridge that has a remote resemblance to the famous Boston bridge in the US.

Boston is home to prestigious knowledge institutions such as Havard and MIT. Would this area become a knowledge zone in future? I wondered. The Boston bridge also reminds us of one of the most expensive and expansive projects ever undertaken in the world.

A large area of Boston is built on land that was reclaimed from the sea. The project was code named the ‘big dig’. The Boston International Airport is actually on reclaimed land and one has to drive undersea to access it.

The initiative faced a lot of challenges including leakages in the undersea road and it also exceeded the budget by far. It was a pleasure to drive on this road on my way to the airport the last time I was in Boston.

The lesson here is that mega projects face a lot of challenges, however, the grand ambition and progress at any step brings about one of the most beautiful feelings you can ever experience.

Such feelings inspire great thinking beyond the project scope. President Kibaki last week launched the upgrade of the new Isiolo International Airport, another Vision 2030 project. According to the vision, Isiolo is also set to be a resort city.

Take a hint from the mega projects and kick start your own project. Remember, procrastination is an opportunity killer, wake up and implement your dream.

Ngahu is the marketing director of SBO Research. E-mail:bngahu@sboresearch.co.ke, Twitter: @bngahu