Reflections from a Rainy Night at The Arena Live Founders' Battlefield: Your Core Values Are Your Energy Blueprint

Let me start from the end.

It was raining. Not a fierce storm, just the steady Nairobi rain that makes you slow down and reflect. Tuesday evening, February 24th. The kind of night that feels symbolic even before you understand why.

The first Arena Live Founders Battlefield event had just concluded. An initiative by Founders Battlefield targeting African entrepreneurs — bold enough to host meaningful conversations and significant enough to attract coverage from TV47. But this night wasn’t about cameras. It was about conviction.

On the podium were seven remarkable individuals: Bobby Gadhia, Renee Ngamau, Teresa Njoroge, Peter Ndiang’ui, and George Ikua as panelists, with Michael Macharia moderating the discussion and Roy Gitahi skillfully curating the session.

The stage featured vintage steamer trunks as tables, not your typical LED-lit, overly decorated business forum setup. The trunks symbolized journeys across oceans, creating a timeless feeling. It was like we were ready to board ships and sail toward new lands of wisdom. It wasn’t flashy; it was purposeful, and that’s what matters because intentionality is energy management.

The formal discussion had ended. The Q&A session began. That’s when I asked two questions that would quietly set the tone for this article.

The first question was uncomfortable.

“How do you short-circuit your ego — especially the arrogance that appears when you start a business, it becomes successful, and suddenly you begin to imagine you are the genius who made it work?”

Honesty, success can be intoxicating. In the early days of building anything — a business, a career, a reputation — you are hungry. At first, you're humble, scrappy, grateful, and just trying to survive. Then a few wins pile up. Revenue increases. People applaud. Your LinkedIn comments become slightly more enthusiastic. And something subtle happens: you start believing your own headlines.

Ego doesn’t show up with loud alarms; it arrives quietly. It whispers, “You did this.” It overlooks the market conditions, the team, timing, mentors, and grace. And if left unchecked, the ego can start to distort your thinking.

The second question I asked was quieter but deeper.

“Most of us know the core values of the organizations we work for. They are framed. Printed. Repeated at town halls. But for those on stage — how were you able to infuse your personal core values into the businesses you built?”

Wait, Hold on. Here’s the thing. It is possible to build a successful company and lose yourself in the process. It is possible to scale revenue and shrink character. It is possible to lead teams while being internally misaligned. So, I wanted to understand — how do you protect your values while growing impact?

One response stood out.

Renee Ngamau responding to my question

Renee leaned into the microphone and said something that changed the room. “Failure is one of my core values.”

Now pause. Failure. A value?

Most of us avoid failure as if it’s contagious. She completely reframed that idea. She said that being alive is somewhat arrogant, because everyone will eventually die. The DNA of life includes failure. Nothing grows without breaking. Nothing evolves without embracing friction and error.

Renee doesn’t resist failure. She embraces it quickly and fully. Kaizen style. Continuous improvement. Failure is not an interruption in her journey. It is the curriculum.

Suddenly, I realized the connection between my two questions. If failure is part of your value system, your ego has little space to grow. Because you are always learning, always adapting, always aware that you don’t know everything. That’s how you prevent arrogance. You integrate humility into your value system.

The ego depends on illusion. Values keep you grounded in reality. That is where this article really starts.

Now let me zoom out.

Core values have a bad reputation. They sound academic, corporate, or decorative. We've gone through the exercise too many times in boardrooms—sticky notes, flip charts, words like “Integrity” and “Excellence” floating around without real meaning. So, when someone asks, “What are your core values?” it often feels like an MBA exam question.

But here is what I want you to grasp clearly: Your core values are your energy blueprint. If you don’t define them, your energy will be spent accidentally instead of intentionally.

And energy — not time — is your most precious currency.

You are an energy being.

Your thoughts are energy.

Your emotions are energy.

Your attention is energy.

Your actions are energy.

Anything you consistently focus on changes. It grows, improves, or deteriorates. Energy management is life management. And if you have never clarified your values, you have never refined your energy. This means you might be investing heavily in things that don't align with who you truly are.

You may be exhausted not because you're working hard, but because you're working misaligned. There's a difference. Exhaustion from purpose feels satisfying. Exhaustion from misalignment feels draining.

And many of us cannot tell the difference because we have never paused long enough to ask: What do I truly value?

It's not about what sounds good, what my organization says, or what my family expects. It's about what I, Edwin — or you — truly prioritize. What am I willing to dedicate my energy to, above all else? Because that's what values really are. Not words, but priorities.

Now consider corporations.

Corporations — the most resourceful entities on earth — grow because they align three key elements: mission, vision, and core values. Many of them started small, with a founder driven by a stubborn idea and a team willing to believe in it. They draw on the energy of a few committed individuals and obsessively focus on a vision, guided by specific values they have intentionally chosen.

And yes, more than 30% of startups fail within their first three years — often due to inadequate market research, running out of cash, or poor management. The ones that survive almost always share one thing: Clarity.

Clear mission.
Clear vision.
Clear values.

Values reduce friction.
Values reduce confusion.
Values conserve energy.

The successful ones stand by their values. They hire people around them. They fire people around them. They build a culture around them. When you work in a value-led organization, you can feel it. There’s less confusion. Less resistance. Expectations are clear. Trust is stronger. Energy is efficient.

And that word matters to me: energy. Let me repeat what I mentioned earlier. Your thoughts are energy. Your emotions are energy. Your attention is energy. Your actions are energy. You are an energy being, which means your life is an energy allocation problem. Your values are what you value—what you prioritize and where you give your energy, often at the expense of other things.

If your energy is limited — and it is — then understanding your values isn't just philosophical; it's practical. Here’s a tough question: if you wake up every day working for an organization with clear core values, are you living theirs more intentionally than your own?

Have you ever called yourself into a meeting? No notifications. No scrolling. No “just five minutes on Instagram.” Just you. And you ask yourself:

What do I actually prioritize?
What do I stand for?
What am I unwilling to compromise?

If you have never defined your values, you have never refined your energy. Unrefined energy naturally leaks out. It seeps into roles you didn’t consciously choose, obligations you resent, and distractions that seem urgent but aren’t truly important. You might be overextended not because you lack discipline, but because you lack clarity. Sometimes exhaustion isn’t from hard work; it’s from work that’s misaligned.

Whether you know it or not, you are already living by values. If comfort dictates your schedule, that is a value. If growth shapes your calendar, that is a value. If approval drives your decisions, that is a value.

The question isn't whether you have values, but whether you choose them intentionally. This is where ego often sneaks back in. When you experience success without clearly defined values, your ego tends to fill the gap. You might start to believe you're the source of everything. However, if your values include learning, humility, service, or even failure, success becomes stewardship rather than ownership. It becomes a matter of responsibility instead of entitlement.

As a Habit Coach, I see this all the time. People struggle with consistency, not because they are lazy, but because their goals aren't aligned with their values. They set goals under pressure, for comparison, out of ego, or for what sounds impressive at networking events. But when goals are rooted in personal values, something shifts.

Discipline becomes easier. Focus sharpens. Resistance lessens. Because now you’re not chasing results, you're expressing your identity.

Habits stick when they align with your values. Discipline becomes easier when your identity is clear. Consistency feels natural when your purpose is defined. Without values, habits seem like punishment. With values, habits become an expression.

Let me make this practical. Start by doing a role audit. List every role you currently hold. Parent. Leader. Spouse. Founder. Friend. Son. Daughter. Mentor. Church member. Board member.

Now ask yourself — in each of these roles, what values should guide me? Not ten. Not twenty-five. Just two or three per role.

As a father, maybe presence and patience.
As a leader, clarity and courage are required.
As a founder, integrity and resilience are key.

Write them down. Writing increases intention. Intention sharpens energy.

Next, align your values with principles. Values are personal, while principles are universal. Gravity exists whether you believe in it or not. Those who respect gravity build airplanes. Principles like respect, honesty, responsibility, and discipline are timeless. They work across cultures and generations. When your personal values align with universal principles, your life becomes structurally sound—free of internal contradiction and silent tension.

Then build your goals on that foundation.

If growth is a value, your goals should stretch you.
If contribution is a value, your goals should serve others.
If excellence is a value, your goals should refine skill, not feed perfectionism.

Your life today reflects your lived values — not your stated ones. It's purely by intention that you align lived and stated values. The question is not whether you have values. The question is whether you chose them.

That rainy Tuesday night at Arena Live was more than just an event. It was a mirror and a reminder that founders (and the rest of us) who grow intentionally do so because they understand energy, ego, and alignment. As I drove home through the rain, one thought kept coming back: Clarity is kindness — especially to yourself.

When you clarify your core values, you reduce internal conflict. Reducing internal conflict helps conserve energy. Conserving energy allows you to accelerate growth. So, I leave you with this invitation: Call yourself into a meeting, define your values, align them with principles, infuse them into your goals, and then live them consistently — Kaizen style: small moves, daily refinement, and massive shifts over time.

Your core values are not decoration items. They are your energy blueprint. And if you don’t define them, you will live on autopilot.

The rain that night felt symbolic. Maybe this reflection is too.

What are your core values?

And are you brave enough to live them intentionally?

 

If this message stirred something in you, don’t let it fade.

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