MOTIVATION: Have the mind of a beginner!

01 Mar, 2015 - 00:03 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

I think I hardly slept. I did not want to miss the boat.

I did not want to be late. I would wake up after a few winks to check the time. I did not want to be late for my first day at work. I was prepared, but anxious. My heart was pacing with excitement and expectation. I finally had it and wanted to learn and grow.

It was the beginning of a long journey of a career. I loved the feeling. My shirt was pressed the night before, I borrowed a jacket and I made sure I would be early.

I had been advised in my letter of appointment to report at the Robert Mugabe branch of Barclays Bank. I wanted to learn and I was eager to do well and make a good impression.

It was my first day as a Graduate Trainee. It has been 21 years since that day, but the feeling and emotion of the first day cannot be erased.

Regardless of how far you go and what you achieve, never lose sight of the mindset and attitude of a beginner.

Do not just prepare, over prepare. Rehearse and focus on success. Challenge the assumptions held in your category and rethink the rules that people have followed.

Never let experience blind you from seeing what you can do. Poke at your ceilings, challenge your limits, think fresh.

Open to Learn

Learning can only start but never ends. To arrive too early is to miss the opportunities to explore, grow and develop. Experience is what gets you through the door and signed on. On my first day at work I was reporting as a trainee.

I knew nothing about banking but was willing to learn. An eager learner is never hindered from learning by an outsized ego or the difficulties of attaining mastery.

Experience sometimes closes the door of learning because you start relying on memory and historical exploits. Memory is not the future, but a relic of the past and a signpost of past potential.

Memory is the rear-view mirror, while the future is the big wind-screen in front of you. Keep learning opportunities in full view. Do not just stick with what has worked in the past. Do not stop learning and trying something new. Do not stop being challenged and activating growth.

Upstream Questions

Only dead fish swim downstream. You are not a dead fish! Where is the challenge and the excitement in being swept down the river by the current of life?

The hidden liability of experience is that it blinds you from self-evident opportunities for innovation and growth. By touting experience you begin to use assumptions as facts and assume that what you see is all the reality there is.

The key to growth is not the answers that you think you have but the questions that you embrace and keep asking relentlessly. Stop asking questions that are coloured with self-aggrandizement. Ask upstream questions that make you explore and see new links, patterns and possibilities.

Ask, “what if?” and “why not?” Challenge your current reality and mental models. Challenge your current performance and the things you thought you knew well enough to be a doyen. What you know is just a little degree point on the wide compass of life; it is a little strand on the wide canvass and tapestry of life.

There are more possibilities than you have dreamt. There are more options than you have thought. There is more that can be done, than what you have done. There is more opportunity than what you see.

Keep searching and seeking. Every step forward you take is there to help you refine your focus and widen your lens.

Keep asking what you need to break with from your past for you to grow. When you stop growing you stop leading. When you are satisfied with the glories of the past, you easily lose relevance. Take a fresh look and refresh your perspectives.

There are things in the past that you must break in order to grow. Do not let past glory illuminate your path to greatness because it’s a poor torch. Shine the light of exploration into the future.

Look with your eyes, but see with your mind and boldly charge forward with your spirit. See new, exciting and endless possibilities.

Keep the spirit and attitude of innocence inquiry. Innocence is special, intriguing and interesting. In innocence you ask questions without limitation and fear.

You are willing to laugh at yourself and try again. Take a step back and challenge your assumptions. In maturity you easily nod knowingly while you reason with a darkened and cynical view.

Keep Exploring

Wherever you set out from does not matter. Never take your own achievements too seriously that you want to be venerated. What matters is that every point you set forth from is just a point of departure and not a destination. Keep exploring and never allow yourself to be content with your journey.

Your large pool of today could just be a poodle. While trying to preserve your little pool, the sea is calling for your exploration. What you call boundaries are a mere optical and mental illusions. Unless you are willing to lose sight of the shore, you can never explore and see beyond the limits of your village.

The size that a fish species grows to is not just determined by anatomy and physiology, but the size of pool that you place the fish in. Big fish thrive in big places. Never confuse your village for the world. Your popularity on the corner of the village you occupy should never be taken to be your claim to global fame. Keep exploring and growing.

 

Milton Kamwendo is a cutting-edge international transformational and inspirational speaker, author and coach. He is a strategy and innovation consultant and leadership coach. His life purpose is to inspire people to release the greatness trapped in them. He can be reached at: [email protected] and on Whatsapp at: 0772422634.

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