The Sunday Mail
Milton Kamwendo
Hunt for Greatness
What did you wake up to do today? Take personal responsibility for your life. Do you dare to walk into the day, confront giants and play world class when you think, or you talk like a loser?
Greatness is not for those that want it all easy. The single most important thing to work on is yourself — your mind and how you think. Unless things change in your head, any other changes do not matter much.
Every day, people wake up to do things that are tough, possibly rough and challenging. I do not hear of world class athletes complaining about the drudgery of training. I do not hear people dealing with world changing innovations complaining that they have no space and no one likes their offering.
Nothing will work on itself when you are not willing to work and hustle. Your complaints reveal where you are playing at, the size of your dream and quality of spirit. Whatever you are facing today, raise up your head and be willing to face it square and clear.
You cannot want to play in the elephant space and be treated like a mouse. You cannot race lions and want the comfort of being stroked like a cat. Greatness is not for those looking for an easy way up. You cannot want to be celebrated like a champion and yet work like a loser and think like a victim. There is so much power in a made-up-mind.
Face the brutal realities and determine to survive the headwinds that come your way. The best captains sharpen their skills in adversity. You cannot abandon your plane in mid-air. Tenacity is a decision and not an emotion. It is a state of mind that you train yourself into. It is when things are tough that the real masters of business step up.
You cannot have a martial arts certificate and be unwilling to practice martial arts. If it is hard, then do it hard! If it is tough, just toughen up. Whatever you face, do not lose faith, do not give up.
Nothing happens when you are looking to have it easy. Keep hope alive. Do whatever you must be doing to move forward and survive friction. Your purpose is not for sale. Through this dream and this noble effort that you are exerting, great things will be born through you.
What will you tell God when you meet him at the end of your life? Just spare Him reams of excuses and be ready with your stories of exploits. If your life was turned into a movie, would anyone turn up to watch it?
What you tell yourself is important and powerful. If you tell yourself that it is finished, then you are finished. If you tell yourself that you cannot do it, then the door of your thinking shuts fast and tight. Tell yourself that you can and that you are able. Your words create your reality. Keep telling yourself that it is possible.
When you are tired and exhausted, whisper to yourself that it is possible. When you are hardest hit, tell yourself it is possible. When you face your team, tell them one message: it is possible! You can because you think you can. It is possible and you can do the impossible.
Do not look for someone to blame. Do not excuse yourself and think others are specially endowed. Think about what you want and not what you do not want. Do not ever forget the old Latin motto — “Possunt quia posse videntur.” This motto, which is worth adopting means, “They can because they think they can”.
There is a greatness in you. There is something so strong in you. If it is tough, that does not mean that you will not get there. If things are uncertain, that does not mean all is lost. If the situation is volatile, that does not mean you should not plan and pursue your strategy. If strange things are happening, that does not mean you should lose your gait and do insane things. It is all about what you choose as a reference point for your thinking. Your bearing matters. There is always a way if you are searching for a way. Do not give up, not now!
When you choose to blame, you give away the power to change and direct your life. Do not allow the negative opinions of other people to condition you. Do not allow other people’s complaints and cynicism to marinate your mind and become your marching orders. Your life and mental state is for you to manage. Stop searching for that proverbial, cure-all silver bullet. The silver bullet has been found and you are that silver bullet.
What determines your future and what will happen is not the other people, circumstances or conditions. The major key to making things happen is you. Yes, I mean you! It is not the environment because every day people are waking up to tame their environment and cage wild beasts. It is not circumstances that matter because circumstances will always come and go.
Do not surrender to circumstances and do not order your life based on events. The main factor in the equation of life is you. Do not excuse yourself. If anything is to be, it is up to you. If your life is to be anything, it is up to you. Stop complaining and start engaging.
Stop being obsessed with the negative opinions of other people. If they think you will never make it, do not get angry with them. It is them, not you. What other people say and think about your chances and possibilities is none of your business. If other people have given up, that does not mean you should join them. If other people are negative, that does not mean that you too should join their choir and sit at their fireplace.
Stick to your dream, play your game and focus on your vision of greatness. Other people do not know what you think and what you dream. They do not know of the passion that burns in your soul. They cannot see the greatness in you. Do not allow those without a vision to lend you their vision.
History is being read but is also being rewritten everyday by people that have tenacity, imagination and are daring to dream big and wake up to their greatness.
The late Steve Biko once wrote: “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” Whoever you allow to control your thinking will control your life. Refuse to let circumstances, conditions and history become the script by which you live your life. Live from your dream and vision and not from your bitter memories.
Hate, bitterness, anger and revenge can only inspire you so far but they can never make you great. Greatness comes when you learn to channel your positive energies and allow yourself to soar above your limitations and challenges. You will never fly if you are being weighed down by negative feelings, bitter weights and acidic thoughts. Steve Biko became the president of the South African Students’ Organisation at a dangerous time. From 1969 to 1972, when his writings were banned, he published articles under the title, ‘‘I write what I like’’, Biko’s writings dealt with issues of racism, post-colonialism, and black nationalism. Following his death a year earlier, in 1978 the articles were edited, compiled and published into a book under that original title. What I like is that title — ‘‘I write what l like’’.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and growth mentor. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo or WhatsApp at: 0772422634. His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com
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