Power of persevering and overcoming obstacles

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Power of persevering and overcoming obstacles

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Perseverance, oh my goodness, what a beautiful word. I think that sometimes ideas force you to persevere. If you become greedy, and become jumpy and you want to do things very fast to look like you're achieving and being successful, you are prone to mistakes. So my perseverance had to do with a lot of introspection and knowing what does the idea need. Does it need a little bit of treatment in terms of building a good board? A solid board? What does that mean? Attracting the right people. So perseverance was not so much that I was being lazy or not taking things seriously. It had to do with timing, you know? There's something about building a solid organization that has to do with pacing yourself and timing yourself. Once you learn how to time yourself in your life then the idea doesn't feel like you're running and zooming and trying to catch up with you. And I think that's the beauty of my culture – we are very patient and we are very, very allowing of the universe to let things happen organically. And I think we use the word organic so many times that people get confused. "What do you mean organically? And what does that mean?" But it means that you may bring friends to help you, but they may not actually be as energized as you are. And they need a little bit of educating and by the time you educate them and they really find that you're excited about your idea, then they're ready to do all the things that you want them to do. So those are some of the things that I mean by perseverance and letting things happen organically. So once you get that set in motion, then the next piece is to really understand the mission of your idea. What are you trying to do? What are you trying to change? And if you understand that mission, then you don't get sidetracked by distractions. There's a lot of noise around the ideas. So, for example, people will tell you, "You should do this. You should do that. You should do this." And you don't always have to take that idea and give it to everybody to give you ideas upon the idea. So paying attention to your mission and your vision and staying true to it is very, very key in a successful idea construction.

See Derreck Kayongo's video on Power of persevering and overcoming obstacles...

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Derreck Kayongo

Parent with a Purpose

Derreck Kayongo is a social entrepreneur and the founder of The Global Soap Project. An executive and development expert, Derreck Kayongo has more than 15 years experience developing strategic social campaigns within organizations for cause-related advocacy, public policy, issue management, and community organizing. His work has made a profound contribution in raising awareness aimed at realizing permanent solutions to global poverty.

Kayongo’s journey from child refugee to fearless visionary is filled with moments of inspiration (along with the benefits of good, old-fashioned sweat equity) that make him one of the most popular – and authentic – speakers on the circuit today. From Africa to Atlanta with nothing but a dream and tenacity, Kayongo beat the odds, earned an education, and has served in leadership roles in some of the world’s most respected non-governmental agencies (NGOs) since 1994. Today, he shares his vivacious spirit and invaluable experience in the areas entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, global health, social justice and professional engagement with audiences in both the corporate and not-for-profit worlds.

Derreck Kayongo’s ability to motivate others to understand the role their work and skills can play in problem solving is one of the many reasons he was chosen as a finalist for the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year Award. Add to that the mantra of being a voice for the voiceless through his noble work of giving back, including dedicating his life to improving the lives of marginalized and vulnerable people across the globe: he has worked with the American Friends Service Committee as Program Director for the Southeast Peace Education program; joined Amnesty International as the Director of the Southeast Region; and currently serves as Senior Advocacy Coordinator for the Southeast region with CARE International.

In 2009, Kayongo and his wife Sarah embarked on a new journey pursuing their life-long passion of starting an NGO of their own. The Global Soap Project focuses on repurposing partially-used soap from hotels into new soap for needy populations, particularly in Africa. To date, The Global Soap Project has been able to donate 9,000 bars of soap to Swaziland, 5,000 bars to Kenya, 10,000 to Ghana, 1,000 to Uganda and another 3,000 to Haiti.

Derreck Kayongo is a proud naturalized U.S. citizen. He has been recognized as a 2011 CNN HEROES finalist and a COX Enterprise nominee; honored by Congressman John Lewis with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition; is currently writing his autobiography; has been featured in more than 20 news stories in the U.S., featured on Fox News as part of the Real American story series; featured on CNN with Fredricka Whitfield.

Since 1994, Derreck Kayongo has given more than 300 speeches on key issues related to poverty reduction in Africa; mainly on water and sanitation, soap, HIV/AIDS, Child Soldiers, Health and Sanitation, Impact of Landmines in Africa, Countries in Conflict and role of basic Education for Girls in Africa.

 
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Transcription: 
Perseverance, oh my goodness, what a beautiful word. I think that sometimes ideas force you to persevere. If you become greedy, and become jumpy and you want to do things very fast to look like you're achieving and being successful, you are prone to mistakes. So my perseverance had to do with a lot of introspection and knowing what does the idea need. Does it need a little bit of treatment in terms of building a good board? A solid board? What does that mean? Attracting the right people. So perseverance was not so much that I was being lazy or not taking things seriously. It had to do with timing, you know? There's something about building a solid organization that has to do with pacing yourself and timing yourself. Once you learn how to time yourself in your life then the idea doesn't feel like you're running and zooming and trying to catch up with you. And I think that's the beauty of my culture – we are very patient and we are very, very allowing of the universe to let things happen organically. And I think we use the word organic so many times that people get confused. "What do you mean organically? And what does that mean?" But it means that you may bring friends to help you, but they may not actually be as energized as you are. And they need a little bit of educating and by the time you educate them and they really find that you're excited about your idea, then they're ready to do all the things that you want them to do. So those are some of the things that I mean by perseverance and letting things happen organically. So once you get that set in motion, then the next piece is to really understand the mission of your idea. What are you trying to do? What are you trying to change? And if you understand that mission, then you don't get sidetracked by distractions. There's a lot of noise around the ideas. So, for example, people will tell you, "You should do this. You should do that. You should do this." And you don't always have to take that idea and give it to everybody to give you ideas upon the idea. So paying attention to your mission and your vision and staying true to it is very, very key in a successful idea construction.