The Sunday Mail
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
MOMENTUM is power. Build it through activity, focus and consistency.
It gives you wings and makes greatness tangible. Momentum turns thoughts into things, and dreams into destinies.
However, momentum is generated when you start running; when you take that hard, messy and challenging first step.
When you are stationary, you are not likely to face any headwinds.
Stop feeling pity for yourself and counting your miseries.
Greatness is more about what is inside you than what is outside you. Do not wait for emotion. Do not wait for inspiration. Do not wait for a push in order to take action and start moving.
Do not let lazy thoughts blind you. Do not let past success intoxicate you. Do not let the baggage of bureaucracy block you.
Do not let anything stop you or delay you.
Keep moving and running.
Many people go through life expecting someone to feel pity for them and carry their burden. Do not dare sub-contract your life to someone else. Thinking like a victim disables creativity and innovation, and blinds true vision.
Things do not change because you count yourself among the unfortunate and glorify your miseries, and feel you deserve showers of pity. Stop that victim movie running in your head.
Stop disappearing or hiding from life. Nothing gets better by avoiding life and its challenges, and refusing to get up and run with the giants. Change only comes through taking responsibility and challenging yourself to be better, and taking action.
Unless that internal push is there, no one can push you further along. Dare to defy gravity.
See clearly
It is easy to think that other people are better endowed and more favoured than you are. See through the possibilities of abundance. There is opportunity all over.
It is easier to think other people are better resourced and your circumstances deserve special attention. Greatness starts when you appreciate the fact that no one owes you a living and you are not a victim. Get up and be ready to fight. Get up and start thinking and stretching.
Greatness is intentional and never accidental.
Start looking at everything you have and giving it value. It is sad to have other people see value in you, while you do not see value in yourself or in what you do.
There is opportunity everywhere and the best eye-opener is taking personal responsibility to make a difference. Victims clog the innovation pipeline.
Make a difference
Value comes when you give and grow value. It all starts with little things, little attitudes and little ways. Make a difference every day and in every way. When you are not making a difference, you cannot expect to receive meaningful value.
Transform your value equation. In everything you do, seek to make a difference that matters.
Be too effective to be ignored and too relevant to be chucked aside. There is a difference between the enduring and the endangered. Keep running and build unstoppable momentum.
Break inertia
There is an opportunity everywhere. Break the inertia — that tendency to stay in the same place and loving the comfort zone. Dare to step into the sun and do great things. The sun shines on all surfaces but it is the polished surface that will reflect the light. Polish your offering. Let it show that you are hungry to make your mark and offer your service or product to the world. Excellence is never an accident. Stumbling on excellence and waking up great is a disappointing myth. Greatness does not come at bargain prices.
There is abundance everywhere. The mere fact that you cannot see it does not mean it has ceased to exist. A cake is always too big for any one person to finish it. Shortage is a mindset and a culture. However, while the cake is big, it can only be eaten by those who are hungry and take action, and not those who are waiting for the cake to find its way into their mouths while they lie around, musing at life and wondering why no one is coming to feed them.
Your thoughts are your silent prayers. Your actions are your prophetic declarations. Actions are the best interpreters of thought. Actions which do not show that you are hungry for your place in the sun will leave you blistered.
Every day you wake up is a different day. It is a new opportunity and a new frontier. Parking on the patch of the past makes you history. People who dwell on memoirs of the past and not the visions of the future will always think like victims who need to be compensated.
There is no constant in life.
You are either growing or dying. You are either becoming better or bitter. Wake up every day with a clear resolve to run and make a difference.
Keep the momentum of the race beyond the initial thrills and frills.
Your greatness is in your staying power. Run in your lane, do your part and excel in it.
Greatness is found everywhere there is commitment to excellence in your lane. Keep your momentum because it is your best friend. Past races do not count in today’s race. Past relevance does not guarantee future significance.
If you are not running, never delude yourself that the race is over. Just be sure someone is running. If you slow down, be sure that someone is running faster.
“Run, baby run” should be your daily mantra.
Life is a race — a long marathon.
You never enter a race looking for a judge’s pity or spectators. Life is not for those who are expecting any less.
The Olympics of life will never excuse you because of your country of origin or special circumstances. Take personal responsibility. Life is not a big pity party. Run, and keep running. Stationary objects face no headwinds.
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. He can be reached at: [email protected] and his website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com
