The Sunday Mail
I AM blessed to have had the opportunity to visit the vibrant town of Gisenyi that sits on the shores of Lake Kivu. in Rubavu province, Rwanda.
Gisenyi is a border town like Beitbridge. Immediately past the border barriers is the vibrant DRC town of Goma. Gisenyi and Goma, are separated by two border gates. One is called the Grand Barrier and the other is the Petit Barrier.
The Grand Barrier is mainly for heavy vehicles, while the Petit Barrier is used by pedestrians and some light vehicles.
It was while I was being shown the Grand and Petit Barriers that an article idea brewed in my mind. I knew I had to write something on barriers.
Whatever you desire, whatever your goal, between that goal and where you are currently sits a barrier.
That barrier could be big, therefore a Grand Barrier, or it could be small, a Petit Barrier. Whatever the size of the barrier, you need to overcome it to achieve greatness.
Do not be scared by the barriers you face. Greatness is within grasp. Most barriers are shy when faced with determination and resolve.
Confront your barriers
To go over any barrier you have to want something beyond your current grasp. Desire is a powerful force, and when focused it becomes a laser beam that can cut through any obstacle. Barriers are actually friends and not foes.
They exist for a special reason and season. They exist to keep out chancers, aimless adventurers and lost wanderers. The barriers you face are a chance to prove that you are really determined, devoted and dedicated.
As you know, there are no half-hearted champions. It is not enough to have wishes, you have to commit. You have to dream and do.
Want it, go for it and you will have it.
The proof of desire is pursuit and action. The proof of commitment is relentless action. What does it take for any barrier to stop you? Take action, be relentless and focused. Approach every barrier you face with unremitting resolve.
No barrier will stand forever against the heat of visionary and relentless action. Chancers will soon give up and look for other lodging opportunities elsewhere. That is not you. You are a winner and you are determined to face your barriers.
You have only two choices: to win and to win. Focus on where you are going, not the inevitable pains of crossing over.
Know your barriers
Ignorance is not bliss; it is doom and gloom. If you do not know your barriers, they will imprison and torment you. If you do not know what you are fighting, you cannot figure out how to fight. Spend time looking at your Grand Barriers.
These are the major things that hold you back. As you look at these barriers, stop thinking like a victim and blaming the whole world for your miseries. Be as objective as is practically possible. Sometimes what you think other people should do for you, you are able to do for yourself. Name your barriers for what they are and start working to dissolve them.
You may be well on your way and then you find that there are small barriers that are limitations along the way. These are your Petit Barriers. Point these out as well. They point to the growth and development opportunities that you have.
Keep asking:
What is not yet perfect?
What could I do better?
How could I perform better?
Deliver better results?
Unless you can point to what holds you back, you will remain stuck in one place and not move forward.
To go through the barriers that hold you back, disrupt yourself. When you disrupt yourself, you are looking for growth.
If your barrier requires you to push, push until the barrier gives way. If the barrier requires you to pull, pull until it snaps. If your barrier requires you to climb, scale over it with your might. If your barrier requires you to dig, tunnel under it. Just do not stop because you saw a barrier.
Every time you confront your barrier with resolve and focus, you get stronger and sharpen your desire.
Mental barriers
The tendency of the human mind is to take the image of a barrier then place it in the mind. Most barriers are weak walls without foundations, yet in the mind they are impregnable fortresses.
Sand castles should never be compared to steel structures. Some scarecrows in the mind are mammoth giants. Stop terrorising yourself and terminating yourself with fear. Use your mind as a friend and not an enemy. Stop replaying horror movies in your head.
It is enough to die once, when you finally do, but please do not attend your own funeral more than once. When you see yourself dying, decaying and being destroyed, you lose confidence. Change that mental frame and restore your confidence.
Face your mental barriers. Overcome negativity with a positive mindset.
Overcome the “impossible” with possibility thinking. You have to go there in the mind before you go there in the body. Think big, take bold and determined action and do whatever it takes for you to cross through your Grand and Petit Barriers.
Love your barriers
Barriers are not meant to keep you out, imprison you or terrorise you. They are special gifts sent to you to help you grow and develop.
Facing a challenging barrier is an opportunity that should never be missed. Every challenge you face is a learning and growth opportunity. The bad times you go through will always lead you to the good times that you will have.
There are no great people in this world. These are only ordinary people that rose up to face their barriers and overcome them. While others were complaining about the barriers they faced, they were busy exploring how they could overcome theirs.
The secret to greatness is no secret at all. Love your barriers and face them. Face them with informed action. Face them with informed determination. Face whatever barrier is in your face. If you run away from the barrier, you are running away from greatness and you are a true coward.
The barriers you face are not meant to destroy you and keep you out. They are blessings in disguise. They are meant to help you grow. Barriers are blessings. They are meant to charge you with energy, fire you up with determination, inspire you with faith and infuse you with passionate action. If it were not for barriers, you would never grow.
The barrier-less path leads nowhere worth going. Easy street is a mere cul-de-sac. The day you have no barrier in front of you is the day you should re-examine seriously your vision, interrogate your goals and stretch out a new plan of action.
Between the here and now and the exciting future that is yours there will always be a barrier – Grand or Petit.
Come to the barrier with determination and it will open and you will be on the other side.
If you do not like the side you are on, cross the barrier. Do not run away from your success barriers, rather run towards them.
Face them with resolve and stay at the barrier until it opens, melts or flees.
Milton Kamwendo is an international transformational and inspirational speaker, author and coach. He is a strategy, innovation, team-building and leadership facilitator. Feedback: [email protected], Twitter @MiltonKamwendo, and WhatsApp 0772422634
