Zoom for greatness

Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo

Where you stand determines what you see. What you see determines what you do. What you do determines what you become. What you do not see affects what you filter into your decision matrix.

The ability to zoom in and out extends your vision, amplifies your perspectives and increases your options, while training your focus on what matters.

In digital photography, as in all life, the zoom button plays an important and defining role. You zoom in to get a closer view. This allows you to have a larger view of objects and to see the more granular details. As you do, you filter many things out of the picture, while you improve the features you see on fewer objects.

Whatever you see is not all that there is to see, but what you would have chosen to focus on. Whatever you focus on will grow in size and become important to you. Choose your focus with care. To change your life, change what you are zooming into. While others see a wide range of problems, you can choose to zoom into the opportunities. Change your focus and your life will change its orientation.

When you zoom out, you get a wider, panoramic view that is richer and gives you a fuller context. Zooming out helps you to see a lot more and everything becomes smaller. How you zoom determines the room in which you navigate. If you feel that you do not have leg-room, perhaps start by adjusting your zoom.

Make room to zoom, else you will easily get stuck. If you do not zoom, you will easily succumb to bias and some of your plans and perspectives will lack meaning and relevance. See the big picture, but be able to picture what matters in that picture. Zoom for greatness and you will be able to ride the wave that comes your way, and get a perspective of the rising tide and what is lying on the beach of opportunity.

Use zoom button

Do not be stuck in one view or think that the view you see is the only one. What you see matters, and what you do not see also matters. Even if you cannot see something, that does not mean it does not exist.

Keep expanding and extending your view. However, to take action zoom in, define your priorities and focus your gaze. Broken focus leads to blurred planning and illogical action. When you do not know what to do, start by using the zoom and adjusting your perspective. Your fear or faith is fed by your zoom.

Use your mental zoom button to navigate through the situations you face. You cannot just think in single-view mode and hope to play to win. Dump luck silver-bullet thinking, where you think that a single thing or event will cure all your ills. No single person is big enough to play God.

No single event holds all keys to your greatness. Think big and see the context. Think small and see what you have to do now. No one’s view is better than the other. Think big, but act small. Think small, but take big action.

Your success is based on your ability to zoom in, and see the granular view. Yet you need to zoom out to appreciate and put context to what you see. It is not what happens that matters the most, but your ability to zoom, make the correct meaning and take action.

Zoom out!

The big picture informs your mind, does big things to your heart and opens your mind. You need this zoom out picture. When you engage, “zoom out” thinking, you are able to take in more detail and appreciate the context, the trends and the signals. In zoom out mode, you focus not just on what you are going through but where you are going to.

You see the horizon, beyond where you are stepping now. You realise that it is not just about the cold day you are in, but that seasons keep moving and that this winter, or storms, will not last forever. Zoom out thinking allows you to see that beyond the clouds of negativity, the sun is always shining. Do not let a single picture tempt you to lose all hope. Expand your zone of possibilities and broaden your view.

When you zoom out, you are able to think bigger, take a richer view and see the rich-picture. Small thinking leads to stinky thinking. Instead of being scared by seemingly big things, you realise that size is relative and never absolute.

You refuse to freeze out of fear or be scared of things that look bigger that you can handle today. Today’s mountain is the little molehill of tomorrow. What is testing your grit today will be your testimony soon. Whatever you are facing today will not look the same tomorrow. Put whatever challenge you face into context and proper perspective by zooming in line with your goals.

Do not fear context or be scared of the big picture. Do not let people who do not see what you see, talk you out of things that you see. Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. See the big picture, focus on what matters and do what you must. Zoom towards greatness.

In his legendary play, “Twelfth Night” Acts 2, Shakespeare’s character Malvolio reads out a letter and says: “By my birth I rank above you, but don’t be afraid of my greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Your fate awaits you. Accept it in body and spirit. To get used to the life you’ll most likely be leading soon, get rid of your low-class trappings. Show some eagerness for the new upscale lifestyle that’s waiting.”

Greatness is waiting for you when you zoom appropriately.

From Malvolio you learn the importance of zooming out of thinking like a victim. It is not the conditions of your life that determine your greatness. Do not fear greatness. You can navigate and move your life from any spot to the next higher place. Do not fear heights of greatness. If you were born great, you can reach for greater greatness. Do not fear dreams of greatness.

If you are not yet great, through your achievements you can become great. Do not fear zooming towards greatness. If you feel intimidated by greatness, you are the right candidate to zoom out and thrust yourself towards greatness. Do not fear what stands in your way.

In thrusting yourself towards greatness, you will realise that greatness will thrust itself upon you. What you are seeking is also seeking you. You can never pursue greatness without greatness thrusting itself upon you with the same vigour. Do not fear greatness, zoom and realise that it is just a matter of time before you become what you dream and declare.

Zoom in

The big picture is important, but it is not the only perspective that matters. Take time to zoom-in and focus on a few elements. Your ability to prioritise is an essential tool of success. The bird’s view matter because you see the lay of the land, it is the worm’s view that is closer to the ground and allows you to do what matters. Take a closer view, focus on a few essentials and do what matters. It is not just big talking that matters, but big focused action.

Do not let your zoom button get stuck on a single perspective. The big picture and the small picture both matter. See the woods from the forest. Be big on perspective, but granular in planning. See the content, but do not miss the context. Match your theory of change with your theory of action. Make room to zoom and you will avoid doom.

Committed to your greatness.

Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and growth mentor. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo. His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com