Why not give your best always?

04 Jun, 2023 - 00:06 0 Views
Why not give your  best always?

The Sunday Mail

Hunt for Greatness

Milton Kamwendo

I MET Angela, who was a long-time colleague of S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, who died on the September 8, 2014 aged 93.

She narrated her journey working at Chick-fil-A, as well as the family environment and intentional culture that starts at rigorous hiring for culture fit.

Cathy started his restaurant business in 1946. He subsequently started the Chick-fil-A chicken fast-food restaurant in 1967.

He was driven, yet humble.

He believed in being intentional and placing God at the centre of his business.

He did not just sell chicken but also glorified God and served people all the time.

And he always said he was in the people business, and not the chicken business.

He would remark that we change the world — and ourselves — through our response to unexpected opportunities.

As we continued talking, Angela paused, looked at me and revealed Cathy’s secret — believing in excellence and giving his best all the time.

She indicated that any time one talked to Cathy, he would challenge them with the words: “Why not your best?”

That grabbed my attention because there are no half-hearted champions!

I wished I could emblazon these words — “Why not your best?” — across the sky.

Greatness is about giving your best, and some more, all the time.

Inside every struggling person, there is a great hero and winner striving to be unleashed.

Inside every struggling organisation, there is a global business striving to get out and be celebrated.

Greatness awaits action to be put on display.

Heroism is everywhere and abundant.

It is a state of the mind and the heart. It is a commitment to excellence.

There is a hero inside all of us that is just waiting to be awakened.

Why not your best?

For centuries, the postage stamp has always memorialised historical moments, embodied mystery and created much following around the world.

Stamp collecting is called philately and today, it keeps thriving under the assault of social media and electronic mail.

I also used to collect stamps, and what wonder and marvel they were!

Email must be cursed for destroying the magic world of stamps and throwing daggers at philately.

The value of a stamp has always been its ability to stick to an envelope until it reaches the letter’s destination.

This is the spirit of greatness.

It is having the grit and tenacity to keep doing your best until you reach your destination, and you keep holding on.

Stick to what you do with excellence.

Why not your best?

Excellence

Wishes never yield heroism.

The commitment to excellence creates legacies.

Crystallising intentions into goals and then taking bold steps is magical.

Be obsessed with excellence.

Keep asking: “Why not your best?”

Until your goal absorbs you, you will never pursue it with all you have.

Greatness comes through persevering beyond the pain barrier.

Half-hearted efforts never yield anything worthwhile.

Why not your best?

Until there is commitment, what is there is cheap talk, clever arguments, soul-less debates and stagnation.

Give yourself totally to whatever you are doing.

Feed your goal.

Sleep your goal and wake up hugging your goal.

Dream your goal and talk your goal.

Read around your goal. Network your goal.

Pray about your goal. See your goal all the time.

Eat your goal. Walk your goal. Pursue your goal. Be obsessed with excellent execution.

Why not your best?

Action

It is easy to take action when it is convenient and comfortable.

Commit to greatness and doing your best.

True greatness is revealed when the stakes are high and you dare take action relentlessly when you would rather quit.

Quitting is easy and most people do, and they invite others to come along with them.

True greatness is sticking to the goal against all the odds.

Face the headwinds and keep driving.

Take action despite the sting of opposition.

The key to greatness is action — relentless action; undying action — and giving your best, including demanding the best from yourself. Without action, there is nothing else.

Without intention, what remains?

Behold the mighty tortoise that makes progress when it sticks out its head out of its shell.

Why not your best regardless of what other people think about your speed and manner of walking?

Calvin Coolidge, an American attorney and politician, was full of insight when he wrote: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

Why not your best?

There is no silver bullet to greatness except persistence.

Nothing can take the place of persistence and relentless action. Why not your best?

Fight

Thomas Watson Jr, the founder of IBM, once said: “Make no little enemies — people with whom you differ for some petty, insignificant personal reason. Instead, I would urge you to cultivate ‘mighty opposites’ — people with whom you disagree on big issues, with whom you will fight to the end over fundamental convictions. And that fight, I can assure you, will be good for you and your opponent.”

There is no greatness without some worthy fight and obstacles to overcome.

It takes character to choose a fight.

It takes character to fight on to the win.

Many people would rather scarper than stand and fight.

Choose to wrestle with mediocrity.

Choose to demand the best all the time.

Take massive action and pursue your goals until they are begging for mercy.

Greatness is your portion.

Give your best.

In whatever you are doing, why not your best?

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

 

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