The Sunday Mail
Aim at nothing and you will hit it 100 percent of the time. Without a clear aim, a defined goal set in your mind, you are living dangerously. Greatness is created by clear goals.
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
Be a goal crusader and passionate goal-getter. Greatness favours bold and clear aims.
Clarify your aim. Define your chief aim, then gun for it. You do not need to know how you will get there, but you need to be clear of where you are going. You may not be the pilot, but your boarding pass should clearly state your destination.
Aimlessness is a disease of mediocrity. The key to greatness is to crystallise goals that you pursue with zeal and focus.
Whether you call your aim a big hairy audacious goal (BHAG), moon shot, magnificent obsession, chief aim or dominant vision, it does not matter much. What matters is that you are magnetically drawn towards whatever you definitely aim for.
Your goals have a powerful magnetic pull. They draw you towards your destiny. If you feel demotivated, check your aims first.
It is difficult to pursue something big, bold and exciting, and be simultaneously bored and demotivated. Be too busy pursuing greatness to get bored.
I went to Hamilton High School in Bulawayo for my secondary education. The school then had long-established routines, traditions and a clear unmistakable aim that was never left to chance.
The school motto was: “Possunt Quia Posse Videntur”, that is, “They are able, because they think they are able”.
It is this core message that formed the basic doctrination of this once proud school: “You can because you think you can”.
Your trajectory into the future is rooted in your current thought stream. You can because you think you can. To achieve greatness, believe you can, because you can.
Aim for something and mobilise belief towards your chief aim and goal.
Hamilton High School, which started in 1959 with five teachers and 72 founder pupils, had a dominant aim that was rooted in its traditions and culture. For any Hamiltonian, it did not take long to recite the aim of the school: “To prepare boys adequately for adult life in an atmosphere of discipline”.
This aim was deliberately imprinted in the mind of every learner. Aims do not just get caught, they also have to be taught and imprinted through deliberate action and repetition.
Define
Define your chief aim in life because it will define you. For me, it is to motivate and inspire people to unleash their greatness. Your aim does not need to be complicated — the simpler the better. Overcomplicated destinations confuse navigation.
If you have never defined your aim, just ask how you would want to benefit other people. Whatever you do that makes a difference for others is your important contribution in life. The late Dr Oliver Mtukudzi was a legendary musician and entertainer. His life aim was embodied in these words he would often recite:
“Gwenyambira ndichipangamazano.”
The musician is a counsellor, and a community and nation builder. He lived out this aim through his resonant music.
You do not resign from your chief aim. It is etched in your DNA and it is your chief driving force. What would you do if money was not an issue? Focus on doing that and your life will be fuller and richer in every way. A shallow aim makes you risk being a successful failure.
Prepare
Every day is preparation day. Prepare to make a difference and be on guard.
To rise high, dig deep foundations of heart, mind and competence. Challenge your limitations and keep charging ahead.
Do not park at the station of yesterday.
Keep learning, growing and sharpening yourself.
Never be satisfied with where you are now. Aim for greatness.
What you are today was adequate yesterday.
Keep growing and developing. Yesterday’s applause is for yesterday. What got you where you are is not sufficient to take you to the next level. If you are not growing, you are definitely going out.
Action
Once you have set your aim, give it feet. You cannot go anywhere standing still. Define the arenas in which you will play, then play to win. You cannot do everything or be everything to everyone. You cannot be great in everything but you can be great in something you aim for.
You will not win every race, but you can run some worthy race. Define your space and fill it with grace. Define your market and the segments you will play in.
Define your client base. Define your field of play. When you define your arena, you will prepare better and be more likely to win. Choose to be the man in the ring and not the cynical commentator.
Once your aim is clear, the next steps is to fire. Take action. Define your 1, 2, 3 steps and then take them. What are the three simple things that you can do towards your greatness aim?
Greatness starts when you take action. Stop multiplying words and multiply action.
Start where you are and with what you can see. Do what is in front of you and what you can see.
Small steps taken with a definite aim create greatness. Do not delay, take action. Do not stop taking action. Keep at it and on the move.
Find that client, make that investment, take that course and start that action. Start now and start where you are. Stop dreaming and start doing.
Once you are through with the first three steps, take a few more, with your eye fixed on your aim. One step at a time is not too difficult.
Wake up every day determined to take at least one defining step forward. Instead of spending time worried and fearful, spend more time taking action and making something happen.
There is too much to do and so little time to do it. Aim to do and do what you aim.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and a virtual, hybrid and in-person workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected].
