The Sunday Mail
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
Size is a perspective. Small hinges swing open big doors. Small tinders start big fires. A small man is not a boy.
Do not be ashamed of small steps and seemingly small efforts. A move, is a move regardless of size. The journey to any place starts with one step. Take steps and do not stop moving. Small steps are a forward move. Do not despair because you are taking small steps, be disappointed by standing still.
There will always be obstacles because resistance is necessary for motion to happen. Do not be afraid of the many obstacles that stand in your path. Obstacles come to frighten off pretenders. Tough times are not the times to stop trying. Tough situations call for tough decisions. The evidence of a decision is a step.
Whatever mountain stands in your way is waiting for you to address it. Do not fear mountains, climb them. Do not run away from mountains, climb them. There is no mountain that you will ever climb without the mountain changing you.
You will never grow so long as you want to read about mountains and are not willing to face them. It is a waste of fees to hold certification as a master of business and yet run away from the brutal challenges of business. It is when things are worst that you must never quit. Great leaders are forged in the hottest and most gruelling crucibles. Focus on where you want to go not on the excuses that stand in your path.
Mountains
You cannot be a mountaineer who hates mountains. Love challenges because they are the elixir of greatness and the raw material of entrepreneurship and great engineering. William Hutchison Murray (March 18, 1913 – March 19, 1996) loved the challenge of climbing mountains. He started with the Scottish highlands and kept going for higher challenges.
Each mountain has a hidden story waiting to be told. You can never participate in any meaningful expedition and remain the same. If your life stories are boring its likely because of not attempting great things and taking on big enough challenges.
Murray loved the challenge of climbing mountains. You also have your own mountains to climb, rivers to cross and problems to solve. This Scottish mountaineer, Hutchison Murray, climbed mountains and wrote stories from the climbing missions that he led and participated in.
It is not what people say that matters most, but the steps you are taking regardless of how small they may look. Murray begins his 1951 book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, by saying: “When I said that nothing had been done I erred in one important matter. We had definitely committed ourselves and were halfway out of our ruts. We had put down our passage money — booked a sailing to Bombay. This may sound too simple, but is great in consequence. Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
“Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
“All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
Small beginnings start big expeditions. Take the small step, then another and keep moving. Buy the ticket. Sign up for the meeting. Make the call. Reach out. Ask. Knock the door. Make the application. Buy the book. Decide and act. Do something that you have been putting off.
Things do not change by being looked at but by taking action. Until you are committed there is hesitancy.
Never leave the site of a decision without taking a step. Plant a tree. Do something. Take real action and not just mere intentions. Do not wait until everything is in place for you to begin. Move and taking action. Greatness is not mere intervention but action.
The great Japanese warrior, Miyamoto Musashi, in his strategy book, “The Book of Five Rings”, says: “The primary thing when you take a sword in your hands is your intention to cut the enemy, whatever the means. Whenever you parry, hit, spring, strike or touch the enemy’s cutting sword, you must cut the enemy in the same movement. It is essential to attain this. If you think only of hitting, springing, striking or touching the enemy, you will not be able actually to cut him.”
The aim of strategy is not playing to play, but playing to win. Take the small step and take actual action not just intentions.
Gravity
What does greatness look like to you? Sometimes greatness looks daunting and impossible. The impossible is the unattempted. It is the undone. Greatness may look challenging and unattainable for you given your circumstances and challenges. Do not be distracted by the obstacles you face, be motivated by the destination that you seek. Challenge your challenges. Put all your imagination and energies to overcome the gravitational pull of negativity and past experience.
If you burnt your fingers once that does not mean that you should no longer have anything to do with fire in the future. If in the past things have not gone right, that does not mean that there is no longer a future for you.
Do not let the past crowd out your future. You can write a new story and develop a new narrative. Your future is not written yet and do not allow circumstances to write your story for you. It is too early to frame your future as a horror tale. Determine to make yours a different story with a proud ending. Take the small steps to poke at gravity and to overcome the gravitational pull.
Begin
The best way to begin is to begin. To get out of any rut start something new. There us no glory is letting weeds grow under your feet. Rub the memory that you once failed and set some bold and exciting goals. Begin and things start happening and moving. There is power in starting.
Start where you are and with what you have. Do not look at what you do not have and what you cannot do. Do what you can now. Look at what you have and work with that as a resource. Do not compare yourself to others, lest you find ample excuses for not taking action. Move. Start. Do. Begin.
There are no endings without beginnings. Beginning shows that you believe in the dream and in the future. Begin, flex your muscle, jump into the pool. Move. Begin. Act. The simple step of beginning starts the chain moving. Do not be afraid of beginning. There is magic in any beginning. Begin now. Act now.
Stop
Doing what does not work is no evidence of bravery or intellectual stamina. If you want to get out of any hole, the best you can do is to stop. Just stop digging. If you are moving in the wrong direction and you want to turn there is one thing you can do today – Stop!
It is not just what you start that matters, but what you stop as well. Doing what you have always done ensures that you get less than what you have always got. Sometimes the most reasonable thing you can do is to press the stop button. You cannot change a flat tyre while moving. Stop, reflect and relaunch.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and executive coach. He is a cutting 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] and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo or WhatsApp at: 0772422634. His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com
