Title: The Long Game: A Sowetan Strategy for Keeping Going When the World Won’t Stop
by Chaslen Koos, Soweto-born Strategist
There’s a specific kind of tired that doesn’t come from a lack of sleep. It’s the tired that settles in your bones when you’ve been fighting for a seat at a table that keeps moving. It’s the exhaustion of trying to build something meaningful while the ground beneath you feels like sand.
As someone born and raised in Soweto, I learned early that strategy isn’t just something you study in a textbook or apply in a boardroom. Strategy is survival. It’s how my grandmother could stretch a single chicken to feed a family of six and still have soup the next day. It’s how we learned to navigate systems that weren’t built for us, turning obstacles into stepping stones just by refusing to stop moving.
If you’re reading this and you feel like you’re on your last nerve, like the "grind" has become a soul-crushing loop, here is my strategy for keeping going. Not just surviving, but moving with purpose.
1. Anchor in Your "Why" (Your Kasi Compass)
When you’re from a place like Soweto, you carry a dual perspective. You see the lack, but you also see the abundance of spirit. You see the struggle, but you also see the innovation on every street corner (someone turning their garage into a spaza shop, a neighbour fixing cars with spare parts and pure genius).
Your "why" can’t be superficial. It can’t just be about money or clout. Those things run out. Your "why" has to be rooted in the people who are counting on you, and the kid you used to be who dreamed of a way out of the dust. When I feel like giving up on a project, I ask myself: Is this just hard, or is this just not aligned with the person I promised myself I would become? Keep that promise.
2. Practice the Art of "Skrrra" (Pivoting, Not Stopping)
In the township, we know that if one plan fails, you don't just go home and cry about it. You skrrra you turn sharply, you find another angle. That’s agility. That’s strategy.
We often think "keeping going" means putting your head down and ploughing through the wall. No. A true strategist knows that sometimes keeping going means stepping back to look at the wall, realizing it’s too thick, and finding the gate to the left. Stopping is not an option, but the route can always change. Don't confuse movement with progress. Sometimes the most strategic move is to pause, reassess, and pivot.
3. Find Your "Taxi Rank" Tribe
You cannot make this journey alone. In Soweto, the taxi rank is chaos, but it’s organized chaos. Everyone has a role. The hooters, the queue marshals, the person selling oranges through the window. They are an ecosystem.
You need an ecosystem. Not just "supporters," but people who will tell you the truth. You need the friend who will let you vent for five minutes and then say, "Okay, but what are you going to do about it?" You need the mentor who sees the potential in your chaos. Keeping going is impossible if you’re an island. Find your rank.
4. Celebrate the "Small" Wins (The Kota Principle)
We get so caught up in the big goal the promotion, the funding, the breakthroughthat we forget to celebrate the steps. In the townships, we can make a feast out of a kota (a hollowed-out loaf of bread filled with chips, vienna, and polony). It’s a simple thing, but it’s a celebration.
Did you finish that difficult chapter? Celebrate. Did you make one new connection this week? Celebrate. Did you just get out of bed on a day when the weight of the world was on your chest? That is a victory. Fuel yourself with these small wins. They are the bread that keeps you going until you get the full meal.
So, here’s to the dreamers who are tired. Here’s to the builders with calloused hands and heavy hearts. Keep going. Not because it’s easy, but because the view from the top is going to look a lot like home full of resilience, rhythm, and relentless hope.
Keep your head up, your strategy sharp, and your spirit unmovable.
· CK
