The Sunday Mail
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
WHEN you go to sleep, make it a point to wake up. As you go to sleep, you may feel beaten,
defeated, crushed, embarrassed and run over. Do not linger long in this dark zone.
As you sleep, draw on the greatness within. Wake up tough and ready to face the world, and play to win. Face the sun.
The world can be rough, but be tough. Being tough is not about being mean or insensitive. It is having the courage to stand up when you are hit. It is about holding on to a dream when no one else believes in it. It is about having the resilience to bounce back from setbacks, no matter how hard they may be.
Og Mandino, in Scroll of his book “The Greatest Salesman in the World”, declares the mantra of toughness when he says: “I will persist until I succeed. In the Orient young bulls are tested for the right arena in a certain manner. Each is brought to the ring and allowed to attack a picador who pricks them with a lance.
The bravery of each bull is then rated with care according to the number of times he demonstrates his willingness to charge in spite of the sting of the blade.” Life tests your toughness in like manner.
If you persist, if you can get up when you are stung and struck, if you can charge forward and keep your focus, greatness is yours. The greatness journey is full of challenges. There will be times when you feel you are at your breaking point. It is in those moments that you need to draw on your inner strength. There is a hidden power that lives within you. You are capable of overcoming anything thrown in your path.
Cultivate inner toughness. Believe in the possibilities of greatness. You are on your way and do not stop now. You have the strength and determination to overcome any obstacle. Do not fear failure and do not let it define you. Learn and charge ahead. Be too tough to remain where failure met you.
Set great goals for yourself. Stay on mission and keep following your North Star. Do not give up or let up.
You are stronger than you think. Being tough is not about being perfect. Be willing
to face your challenges head-on. What did you wake up to do today? Take personal responsibility for your life. You did not wake up to complain and pout. Dare to confront giants. You have to think like a tough winner and not a weak loser.
Greatness is not for those who want it all easy. Work on yourself. Train your mind on how to think tough. 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 big world-changing innovations complaining that they have no space and no one likes their offering.
Stop feeling pity for yourself. Be kind and fair with others. Nothing works 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 with 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 a lot of 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 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 enter the right arena.
If it is hard, then do it hard. If it is tough, just toughen up. Whatever you face, do not lose faith and 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 your dreams and noble efforts, great things are being born.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and accomplished workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge 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]
