MOTIVATION: Be Extraordinary

19 Jul, 2015 - 00:07 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

Those who do not see the extraordinary greatness in you have a focusing error. Whatever you do, do it in an extraordinary way.

Ordinary moments and actions taken consistently and diligently birth extraordinary icons. Never lose the wonder, glow and sanctity of this very moment. There will never be another time like this. You are stepping on the trampoline of your greatness. What you do with this moment determines how you will be catapulted into the future. Greatness is not for the chicken-livered, faint-hearted, timid, lazy and hesitant who are desperate for a free pass. To be worth noticing you must either be the best, first or extraordinary, all of which call for initiative, creativity, boldness and courage.

Be pro-active.

Passion is the vehicle that carries you to greatness. You must be hot or cold. Average will never carry the day or inspire anyone. Half-efforts are rarely for winners. There are no half-hearted and hesitant champions. Luck is the refuge for gamblers and I know you are not gambling with life and pretending that you own the casino. Those who set goals know what they want and are willing to progress faster than those who are waiting for luck to smile.Waiting for the good times leaves you waiving at a train that has left the station. Do something with what you have.

There is a popular saying that states that the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the “little extra”.

It is that little extra drive, hardwork, passion, excellence and grace. If you just do what everyone else is doing, why should you expect anything more than what everyone is getting? Playing it safe leaves you safely average. Greatness by luck is a myth. The “extra” is the slight edge that distinguishes and catapults you. Go the extra mile, give a harder punch, drive a little further and see what you do and become. Aiming to be just good enough is a chorus of mediocrity. Aiming low leaves you sunk in the muddy pool. Good swimmers love swimming at the deep end. The shallow end is for the fearful, tired and uncommitted. Always go beyond the call of duty and be recognised for something.

Change your labels

Refuse to be a no-name-brand of a person. People are fond of labels. Unbranded goods do not sell well and are hard to distinguish.

Ordinary is mediocre.

It is not the labels that you wear or carry that matter. It is when you start believing those negative labels that you start limiting yourself. Refuse to let the limiting labels of the past stop you from dreaming and daring. Refuse to accept other people’s negative opinions of you as supreme law. People can label you as old, cold, or sold. Show up and be counted. Never let old labels follow you into your present. Life is for the bold. That is who you are and what you were born to be. Be bold enough to reinvent yourself. Rebel against labels that no longer serve you. Never let your history occupy too much for the present and blind your future. Bury what you must then rise to a new life. Never let the faults and foolishness of the past be your labels forever. Refuse to let negative labels stick on your confidence and life. You may have failed in the past, but refuse to let that be your label and branding. You can succeed and become anything that you dare to become. Dare to dream and if you are going to be dreaming anyway, choose to dream big and in bright colours. Let a burning will and zeal carry you forward. Refuse to die while you are living. Refuse to take yourself off the shelf before your sell-by date. Refuse to let your passion expire while you worship the past and remain parked in oblivion. You are not locked into the past, paralysed and haunted by it. Break free and tear up the past labels. You cannot afford the luxury of entertaining negative thoughts and the haughty pride of limiting labels. You can always choose to make any day your new beginning and open new pages of your life. Whatever label you choose, it will chose you too.

Set new goals

Goal setting is not idle activity. You move in the direction you face. Goals determine destiny. Refuse to be haunted by past shadows and to box ghosts and skeletons. Clarify your desire and dream. Aim and play to win, not just to play. When you aim at nothing, you risk inheriting the whirlwind. A mind that is not seized by a dominant goal is a loose canon that is wasting ammunition. Get your mind busy dreaming ideas, not worrying.

Set bold, inspiring and challenging goals for yourself. Stop singing the song of excuses and set goals and get really busy. See what your excuses are doing to you. You cannot just get by blaming other people for your misery and situation. Challenge yourself; stir yourself into action and refuse to bury your head in the sands of worry. Greatness belongs to goal setters not mere wishers. Your goals must be stimulating and meaningful to you.

Do not just live to try and please those around you who may not know your dreams, feel your hunger or share your passion. Make your goals graphic, memorable and adorable. Greatness belongs to those who fall in love with their dominant and inspiring goals. Pictures are stimulating; therefore, picturise and pre-play your goals. Writing your goal is the first step in creation. Goals that are not written down do not exist and could easily slip away. If your life seems to be in a rut, likely your goals are weak and puny. Set goals that jolt you to act and move you out of complacency. If you cannot see the ultimate end, you become a prisoner of the immediate.

Set your goals then multiply them by a respectable factor because 20 years from now your children will not understand why you thought so small and feared when you should have acted.

Renew your thinking

A mountain person who thinks valley thoughts will always act unbecomingly. Singing songs of greatness and thinking like a victim is an oxymoron. An elephant that thinks it is an ant is in danger of extinction.

Come to the dance floor of life and dance, not excuse your gait and seek pity. When you do not know your value, you will pass for a beggar. Look inside you and likely you will see a giant waiting to be unleashed and not a crying baby wishing for luck. Until you change your thinking, you will always be a hostage and victim. Think like a loser and you will lose. It is not what you are that holds you back. It is what you think you are that does. Please do not use your mind against yourself. Instead of brooding on what you do not have, focus on what you have. Instead of complaining that you do not have a hundred things, ask what one thing you have in your hands. Refuse to suffer from the curse of abundance. To be in plenty and think thoughts of poverty makes you funny. Let the fog clear, and see yourself for who you are and can be.

Inside you is amazing power and potential. What people have seen of you is just a fraction of what you can do. Stop waiting for perfect circumstances in an imperfect world.

Take responsible action

Many people think and talk, complain but do nothing. Change comes when you take personal responsibility and action.

In his 1987 album “Bad”, Michael Jackson “The man in the mirror”. Go to the mirror and look squarely at the man in the mirror. Jackson sang: “I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer. If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change!”

That man in the mirror is responsible for your misery and is the key to all the change your desire. It is the man in the mirror that must start the change. Until that man stops pointing figures, he will always be a picture of frustration. Dare to renew your thoughts and take responsible and urgent action. Today is the youngest that you will ever be. The world is not waiting for you to finish licking your wounds and dressing up before moving on. Do not place your life on “pause” hoping the world will pause with you. Never think that if you die, the whole world dies with you. Life marches on. Many people are obsessed with changing the world and making it better, when perhaps they should be looking at the man in the mirror and starting the change there.

The man in the mirror is your number one enemy or friend. Tell him to start taking action and stop playing victim games. Until the man that you look at in the mirror takes responsibility for change, he will always be blaming, hoping that someone, somewhere must change and do what he must. That will make you ordinary and boring when there is an abundant opportunity to be extraordinary. Your time is now. Never bank on the future that you cannot determine. You are born to be extraordinary and to do great things. Your playing small does not do anyone any favours. Do great things now.

 

◆ Milton Kamwendo is a transformational and inspirational speaker, author, strategy and innovation coach, and leadership and management consultant. He can be reached at [email protected] and on WhatsApp number 0772422634

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