The Sunday Mail
The challenges of life and business are similar to a dog fight. When I was at CBZ Bank I worked with the inspirational marketing guru, Dr Doug Mamvura, in marketing where battling giants and the bank was on the back foot.
To encourage and inspire the team, Doug would daily declare: “What matters in a fight is not the size of the dog but the size of the fight in a dog.”hen I was at CBZ Bank I worked with the inspirational marketing guru, Dr Doug Mamvura, in marketing where battling giants and the bank was on the back foot.
It has been more than 15 years since then, but those words always ring fresh in my mind every time I face a challenge. It is not the size of the dog that matters, but the size of the fight within. When you are determined to win, you play to win, not just to play. Size is a historical fact, but the fight inside you is the present catalytic force.
What matters when you pursue greatness is not the size of the challenge. There will always be giant challenges in your face. Life is a fight and never be threatened by size. Never let fear run you. When you are under the spell of fear you tend to do insane things.
Stand up to the fight of life when you seem like a mere minnow. You cannot give up because you are facing an uphill task and the challenge is big. No ways. There is a big fight in you. Dare to take a stand and punch above your weight. You only grow when you stand in the ring against challenges that look insurmountable.
Baby challenges will never make you anything better than a baby. Do not be tempted to shrink your vision to fit into your current limitations.
Great people are not simply born great, they grow to become great. It is a choice and commitment that you make despite the giants you face and your situations. Greatness in perfect circumstances is just a myth, you have to work with what you have. The genesis of all greatness is a state of mind and quality of heart.
The choices you make determine what you do and become. Regardless of the size of the challenges you face, you too can become great.
All things are relative. What you see depends more on your perspective than on the object you are looking at. You see things as you are and not as they are. Size is relative and is a matter of perspective.
When you see differently you behave differently. With this understanding you are armed for greatness in whatever sphere you operate. It is not what is broken that matters but what you can fix and work with.
Never let size of your challenge and length of the shadows threaten you. It is not the size of the challenge that matters but the size of your vision and desire. You are bigger on the inside than what is outside you. What you need to become great is already in you. Believe and unleash the greatness within.
A short man
The Nigerians have a proverb: “A short man is not a boy!” How true. Do not let any limitation or quality that you have tempt you to doubt your capability and possibilities. It is not how short or tall you are that matters but what you can do with what you have. Size is over-rated, skill is supreme. You are able to do more than you think or imagine. You have potential that if you really saw in perfective would scare you. You have got capacity beyond your wildest imagination.
Never be treated or feel inferior. Take big, bold and resolute action. Believe in your ability to do great things, do small things in a great way. Stop doubting and start believing. According to your faith, so it is. Stop counting your miseries and start taking action. Trying times are not the times to stop trying and start crying.
What people think about you should never be your limitation. Never adopt other people’s doubts as gospel truth.
Do not let other people’s limitations become your limitations. Free your mind from the shackles of doubt, hesitation and purposelessness. Dare great things and challenge things that other people think you cannot do. There is no need to argue, just put results on the table and action to your feet.
The best
Whatever you are, be comfortable in your skin. Seek to be the best of whatever you are. What you are is enough to start your life’s revolution of greatness. Do not be discouraged and despair because of the size of your challenges and mountains. Do not give up so easily.
Instead of dreaming up death, dream up visions of the future. No problem cannot be solved. Great things are done daily by people that dare believe that they can start where they are and do great things. Where you are is not an eternal sentence but a starting point of your great exploits.
Douglas Malloch (1877-1938), a poet and musician, bequeathed to us the following beautiful poem:
“If you can’t be a pine
on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the
valley — but be
The best little scrub
by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a
bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway
happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie
then just be a bass —
But the liveliest
bass in the lake!
We can’t all be captains,
we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something
for all of us here,
There’s big work to do,
and there’s lesser to do,
And the task you
must do is the near.
If you can’t be a highway
then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that
you win or you fail —
Be the best of
whatever you are!”
The last line is worth repeating and reading aloud. Be the best of whatever you are! You are able to do great things and never evaluate yourself against other people. Stand in your space and be the best of whatever you are. The best you can do is the best you can do.
Learn from seeds
A tiny seed is packed with awesome potential. Small beginning do not stay that way. Every seed you hold is a promise of a forest. Whatever little you have, with faith and vision you can do great things and become great.
Fidel Castro, the leader of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, said:astro
“I began the revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I would do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and a plan of action.”
If you have faith and a plan of action you can do great things. Do not park on good, reach for great. With faith and a definite plan that is acted upon with commitment and focus you will do great things.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and coach. His life purpose is to inspire greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo or WhatsApp at: 0772422634
