The Sunday Mail
Changing Perspectives
Rutendo Gwatidzo
IN life, change is inevitable. Resisting change is like fighting the wind.
Life goes through different stages, from childhood to adulthood, till it expires.
The different phases come with peculiar demands we need to learn to accept and prepare for to have fulfilling lives.
Life has no final stop, except death.
So, there is nothing like I have arrived in life.
Yes, you may arrive where you longed to be, but you need to maintain that position or continue moving forward.
Self-development is an important part of life.
Different seasons require different skills.
If you see your life going on smoothly year in, year out, there might be no growth taking place.
Any kind of growth will call for certain adjustments.
Not only does self-development give you a better life, it also leads you to the life you want.
You need to be deliberate about the way you want to live.
You should be the captain of your life.
Have goals
Do not lead a life without goals because that will make you relax.
One of the tragedies of life is not failing to achieve a goal, but not having a goal to pursue.
We also need to be strategic with self-development.
However, be willing to change your mindset at different stages of life.
Each phase comes with new trends, and you ought to adopt new perspectives to remain relevant.
You constantly need to be better than yourself before you try to be better than anyone else.
Being better than yourself means constantly improving on the person you were yesterday.
It helps to ask others to constantly evaluate you.
Life is what you make it.
Character and habits can be altered only if you are willing.
In other words, destiny is a result of our character and habits.
This is why others say life is what you make it.
Your background does not determine your destiny.
You need to constantly improve and develop yourself.
Be willing to let go of certain things about yourself in order to give room to new things.
Others view self-improvement as a burden, especially when they talk about their flaws.
Talking about your vulnerabilities is not a sign of weakness but greatness, because it allows you to improve and become a better person.
Whatever difference you bring to yourself has an impact.
There is a woman who did a dressmaking course while she waited for her A-Level results and today she owns a company that manufactures corporate wear.
She also did a baking course while she was on maternity leave and today runs a cake business.
In addition, during the lockdowns, she learnt about weaving and braiding, and now she co-owns a salon business.
She has become an entrepreneur of note as a result of her commitment to self-improvement.
January is almost past, and if you are into self-development, you should be ticking at least one area of your life that you managed to improve.
By the end of the year, you should be able to look back and see at least 12 areas of your life you would have self-developed.
Organisational status
The challenge in many organisations is having redundant teams that are not improving themselves, yet technology, systems or structures keep changing.
Interestingly, you may find someone complaining that their job or package is still the same after more than five years of service, yet the same person did not add anything to his or her qualifications and skills.
If you take a closer look, you may discover that even the customer service of that individual would have become worse than when he or she joined the organisation.
Teams are quick to get familiar with situations and relax.
They tend to forget that the world is not static.
Some even make the mistake of thinking that once they get clients, they kind of own them because they managed to satisfy them.
The fact is satisfaction is temporary unless something is done to sustain it.
Nokia’s current CEO Pekka Lundmark believes the firm was left behind by its competitors because it failed to self-develop.
Self-development starts with individuals, then it becomes organisational.
General facts
Self-improvement applies to every aspect of life.
Activities like exercising help to keep us fit.
The way you take care of yourself also matters.
For instance, as women age, they tend to dye their hair and put on hairstyles that make them look younger than their age.
The way you relate with others requires improvements as well, otherwise you lose important relationships.
Be challenged, encouraged and inspired to keep developing yourself in every area of your life.
Make it a must to learn something new, be it on a weekly or monthly basis.
Rutendo Gwatidzo is the managing director of The HUB HR Consultancy, a culture and change management organisation. She is a multi-award-winning leader, as well as a consultant, speaker and mentor. She is also the author of two books — “Born to Fight” and “Breaking the Silence”. Feedback: 0714575805/ [email protected] / Rutendo Gwatidzo official FB public page.
