The Sunday Mail
Changing Perspectives
Rutendo Gwatidzo
Who brings change? Change will not come if you wait for someone else to bring it. Be the change that you wish to see.
You are the one you have been waiting for. If you cannot change the situation, then change yourself. Many times, some people talk about plans, goals, dreams, or visions but end up doing nothing about them.
Here is the reality: no matter how much you sit down to think and plan, without action, you go nowhere. Remember, it always seems impossible until it’s done. A journey of a thousand miles began with one step. It is very possible to arrive at your destination, and all you need is to move step by step, stage by stage until you get there.
While standing at point A, begin by moving towards point B, then C, D until you get to point X, then Y and Z.
The challenge with many people is that they are not patient with the process. They want to move from point A to Z miraculously. Great things take time to build.
Joel Arthur Barker once said vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world. The first question to answer yourself once you have put your vision on paper is: Are you willing to put action to your vision?
Changing things requires both vision and action. After having a clear picture of your vision, you must have a clear picture of the implementation process as well.
Once the vision is known, then make sure that whatever you do brings you closer to attaining your dream.
Celebrate milestones as you journey towards your vision. The work of a visionary is never done, hence every goal met along the process should be celebrated.
This will give you the energy to carry on.
You need to realise that everything is difficult at first but gets easier with time.
Come to think of it, when you get a job for the first time, the first week or month may be very challenging as you try to fit in.
The same applies to pursuing a vision.
The initial stages may be hard, but guess what? Good things do not come on a silver platter. You have to pursue them.
If we look at all the great men and women whom we know, one thing stands out among them – they kept pushing.
Some experienced many pitfalls; however, they kept rising up and they kept trying. Your vision will guide your plans while your action will help you know what works and what doesn’t.If you hit a brick wall, all you need to do is to change your strategy without necessarily changing the goal.
People may have misgivings about what you say, but they will believe what you do. Move away from living in the “talking mode” and be found in the “doing mode”.
This will help attract supporters who will make the road easy for you to travel.
We are in May!
The month of May is upon us and some people have been planning over and over; others have been wishing for change again and again.Some have been dreaming over and over for the situation to change.
We also have others who keep on referring to what they did in the past; they live in yester-glory and do not realise that things have changed.
Some are good at telling others what to do, yet all they do is sit back and complain while waiting for others to change things.
I have been to places overflowing with litter. The people living around these are always complaining about how filthy the place is, yet no one is prepared to do anything about it.
My friend, to achieve good results at school you have to work hard.
To achieve good sales at the end of the week or month, you have to go into the market and sell. Whatever you desire in life, you got to act towards achieving it.
Successful people have two things in common. They believe in a bigger future than the past and they believe that they can do something each day to bring about the bigger future.
I have come across many employees who leave their jobs simply because they are not happy. The next thing you see is them struggling when out of work.
You need to understand that the road to point Z presents a mixed bag of surprises; you can find yourself in authority or under authority. When in this position, know that pride and a massive ego are not good packages to carry along. Resilience and persistence are good friends to journey with.
Facts!
Many of us are hard-pressed on every side and the economic conditions are tough.
The environments in our workplaces are not where we desire them to be.
Salaries are inadequate and most of the time sales targets are difficult to meet.
Instead of waiting upon the employer or the visionary to change things, let us be the change that we wish for.
A positive attitude, good behaviour and energy help. Some of us need to realise that our dreams come true through supporting other people’s visions. Do you know that someone’s vision can actually become your vision, too, and in the process of pursuing that vision, you may get fulfilled?
Come to think of the people you probably know who are in the same line of business as the one that they were employed under at some point. Whatever you do, do it to your level best because you never know what tomorrow holds. Let us look at biblical characters.
David used to be very faithful, loyal and committed as a shepherd.
Later on, he became a faithful and trusted armour bearer to King Saul.
In the end, David became a great King.
We also have Ruth, who followed Naomi diligently and eventually got married to a great and wealthy man. Again, we have Joseph, who remained faithful regardless of the difficult situations he came across and later became a great leader. Coming to present-day life, we also have the likes of Philip Mataranyika, who served diligently while he was employed and today he is successful, doing what he did best even then.
There are so many examples that I can bring up. The bottom line is to do your best from whichever position you find yourself in.
Eventually, it will pay off.
Do not possess the mentality that says “as long as I get my salary at the end of the month”. You need to realise that the success of the business that employs you is your success as well. Be faithful while following another man’s vision and you are likely to succeed in pursuing yours. Be challenged to have a clear vision. Be encouraged to begin or to keep on going towards your dream.
Be inspired to play your part in bringing about the change you desire.
Rutendo Gwatidzo is a culture-change strategist with over 10 years’ experience as an HR consultant. She is the author of the book “Born To Fight.” Contacts: +263 714 575 805/ [email protected]/ Rutendo Gwatidzo Official on Facebook.
