Pursuit of a dream: It's a personal agenda

Application of self descipline

Over the next few days, you will go through a series of changes that will challenge you, impact your life and your dreams, ideas and talents may later be transmuted into their financial equivalent. The translation of one’s ideas into products that can be sold for money can only be achieved through the consistent and relentless application of proven principles that have been applied through life or reinvented, perfected and retried. These principles do not respect persons, status, qualification, background or any attribute of man. They only respect he who applies them and rewards him or her with great personal confidence and wealth.

Talent is not enough

No matter how gifted you are, without the application of self-discipline that talent may raise to the top but it is highly unlikely to be sustained at the top. Talent can never be enough to sustain one’s life. It is however sufficient to lead you up into a path that you desire, but it is not enough to keep you at the top. There are many talented people that we can site for elastration’s sake, those people have risen to the top, but could not stay there because of lack of personal vision, direction, mentorship and discipline.

Your potential is the seed that is still to be unearthed, if left unattended to; it will remain yet another lost ability to impact society. I believe that with the development of a culture of learning, personal introspection, aggressive self-application, personal identification and purposeful living, one is able to translate ideas into money, principles into habits, habits into character or even transforming society, one man at a time. Your ability to achieve great success with your life is equal to your “ability” to fail and still continue trying. It does not require a second brain set to achieve success more than it does for failing life.

Success is not an accident

Over the past few years, I have determined to read as many books as possible in order to understand the nature of success. In learning learned the truth about this famous statement by John C Maxell that everything rises and falls on leadership. Simply put, your leadership capacity determines your success or failure level. Thus for you to measure what you call “success” in your own right, you also need to define your ability to lead yourself.

The world’s famous, wealthy and powerful people have declared independence from the demands of popularity and people’s opinions. Dr John Tibane, author and Leadership coach said “whatever defines you, confines you. Whatever does not build you, constrain you”. You become successful only if you walk in the best path that is meant for you. Successful people become successful by leading themselves to the path that which they desire and eager to attain.  I cannot imagine how painful it would feel to have climbed the ladder of success all the way to the top, only to find that it was leaning on the wrong platform. You have achieved everything in life, but you did not become the best you can be. You become the best second best there can ever be.

Unfortunately, this is true for the majority of our brothers and sisters in Africa.  They try by all means to be the next person or to copy somebody else’s dream. They conform to what people say about them and miss out on the opportunity of being who they are meant to be. I will illustrate to you how as to what I mean by this.

In Pursuit of a personal goal

Mercy, a young talented and known hair dresser from Mamayila became famous for her inventions and hair talent. When she was nine years old, she used to design her doll’s clothes and do her hair. She later gained fame in the community when she moved to Hluvuka High School when she turned 14. Many of her class mates and other scholars ran to her for hair styles during events. Most of it she did it for free or in exchange for lunch. Later, Mercy turned this passion into a business.

Her mother always wanted her to be a nurse. Her father wanted her to be anything her mind points her to do. On the other hand, her teachers told her that she can be anything she wants to be, but one thing she cannot be is be a hair stylist. It was considered a poor person’s Job and low class dream.

It must never occur to you to allow yourself to measure your dream or desired based on somebody else’s barometer. It can never be accurate.

The only thing Mercy could dream of was hair styles, make up and jewellery. Just after completing her Grade 12 in 2002, she decided to take a gap year without her parent’s knowing. That gap year turned into a business adventure. The concept of gap year was not famous then, but she did it against her parents’ wishes. Her parents had registered her with the then Medical University of South Africa (Medunsa) to study nursing, but she never attended a single lecture. Instead she took her talent to the streets and pursued her passion. Her parents sent her money to pay school fees, rent and buy food. She used the money to rent out a small office in Acadia, Pretoria which she turned into a small hair and beauty studio.

 By October that same year, her parents wanted to visit her, but she told them that she was going to North West to do her in service training for four months and will only return in February. Excited, her parents increased her even more pocket money for the four months, thinking that Mercy will need the money. She took that little investment and enrolled herself to be trained as a makeup artist.

That month, she met few celebrities who came to her Salon. Soon she made it to the local newspapers in Pretoria as a rising star. She soon attracted famous faces to her salon. By the end of her first year in business, which was supposed to be the end of her first year in Nursing School, she had hired four people into the salon and payed them very well. Her business turned from humble beginnings into a great success within one year. Today, she has four other shops, including a full loaded hair and cosmetics wholesale shop with over 36 employees.

The following year, Mercy went home to break the news to her parents. Her mother was very furious, but her father was proud. That night she determined to educate her younger siblings of her disobedient journey to success. “It was not an easy thing,” she started, “but I had to do it for me. I knew that my parents will not be happy because I lied to them for the whole year. I made excuses all year and never gave them a chance to know what I was doing.” She said.

Her mother was listening from the other room but she chose not to interrupt this confession. “My mother believed so much in my academic acumen. But I believed much in my dreams and talent than in my school performance. I worked hard at school, but I worked harder to build my talent and dream.” She paused and took a deep breath. “I wish I could explain this to mama, but I’m not sure...” He brother, Mikhenso interrupted her; “you don’t have to sis. You followed your dream. We understand and are proud of you.”

***

I am not in the business of breeding rebellious young people, but I am challenging you to pursue your talent and gifting with all your strength. Like Mercy, she understood that she can be anything she wants to be, but for her to do so, she had to separate herself from other people’s wishes, no matter how she loved them.

You cannot be trapped in other people’s opinion and wishes about you. By the time you wake up to your own desires, they may have rusted inside of you. John Maxwell, Author and global leadership coach and speaker writes “talent is not like a savings account: a saving account compounds in interest annually. You can deposit money just once, and then leave it for years. The longer you leave it untouched, the more you will get out of it. The longer you leave it, the more it increases. But your talent is not like that. The longer you leave it, the more it decreases”. Dr Mike Murdok says, “Talent that is not recognised is not celebrated. And talent that is not celebrated cannot be rewarded.”

Start valuing your dream, your desires, your talent and abilities. That gift can make room for you. It will open doors for you in areas you never imagined.

BUY THE FUTURE (PART 2). BEWERE OF FIRE FIGHTERS

I believe when it comes to success, there are three kinds of people:

1. Those who think and dream about success.

 They are like window shoppers. They always go out to see what’s in the market, they know all the latest trends, all the ups and downs, but they are not part of it. They know who is in business, and who is out, but they never get in. These are people that give others a great business ideas. They talk imagine and talk about all the great strides they wish to make but remain inactive. The sad thing is they imagine themselves rich but never get to it. They are like a man who brings in game from his hunting expedition but fails to roast it for good meat. I once heard  one say you cannot till the ground by tuning it over and over in your mind. 

If you fall in this category, you are one who tend to think rich and successful thoughts but are afraid to make mistakes. By the time your life comes to an end, you will b regretting how you allowed birds to hatch in your head, but never got to eat their meat.  Norman Cousin, a writer and editor wrote this powerful statement: “death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies in us while we still live.”

2. Those who talk about success.

 I believe that we were created with two great abilities  that can be developed for better use: the ability to think our own thoughts and the ability to speak and say what we want. Sadly, some people talk and never do what they say. Others wait for things to happen so they can talk or write about it. They have no thoughts or activities of their own, they need you and me to develop things so that they can talk about it or write articles about it.

They are like columnist shoppers. They know all the trends, they talk about it. They can even write about in and advice others about things they have never known nor experienced. They can talk about someone’s business as if they are in it first hand. But they never dare do. They know how to talk about things, but they do not know how to copy good tricks. 

On the contrary, some may be filled with more negative talk than the group I described above. When you share ideas with these kind, they will give you all the reasons why it cannot be done. Be careful of this type. They can kill a good product before it is even born. They are what is described as firefighters.

Firefighters are those people who go all the way to stop the passion or the fire in other people. They prevent you from releasing what’s inside you before it comes out. They kill dreams. When ever you come up with a good ideas or plan to do something, be it personal, at home, at work, in sports and any other area, they will pull out all fire fighting equipment’s they have in their minds. 

You will notice them with the following common sayings every time something new comes up:

• Its not in the budget 

• That’s not practical

• We tried that before and it didn’t work

• We have never done that before

• Yeah, Yeah... but...

• That’s not the way we do things here

• It will never work

• No one will believe that

• You are getting too big for your shoes

• Who do you think you are

• No one will fund that

• Its not good enough

• You are not qualified for that

• You are black, it will never work.

3. Those who do succeed indeed.

They don’t talk much. They do much. I learn this from my wife. When she sets her mind on a thing, she goes for it and gets it. She is so disciplined and focused.  It is an a quality i noticed in almost every successful person i've studied. I is also sited by many authours on the subject of selfhelp, business, family, sports, music, art and reliegion.

You have be so determined that you can’t be easily deterred her off target.  You have to “focus on the end result”. Rudy Ruittiger said “if you really believe in your dream, you will get there.” You have to deal with the doubts that are created in and around you to break the cycle of negative influence. Franklin Roosevelt said this profound words that fit here well: “the only limitation to our realisation of tomorrow will be our doubts of today”. 

I believe that most of the changes, successes and breakthroughs that we need in our lives and business do not necessarily require money or physical strength but psychological strength: believe in yourself. That is an attribute of successful people. They believe their beliefs and doubt their doubts.

NEGOTIATING FOR A BETER LIFE_ BUY BACK AFRICAN WEALTH

Five years from now, or even tomorrow. You will meet with someone you met today or some years back with whom you may have exchanged ideas about how your futures will be like in terms of your “prospective marriages”, business ambitions, etc. and may have also discussed your ideas and goals. They looked really good at the time. Sometimes you were described a positive thinker who is on the road to success.

As you compare your “talk, then” with your experiences “today”,  one of the following two things will happen: you will be excited to share your accomplishments, or embarrassed to discuss them with that person.  This will because you either would have Improved significantly or completely underdeveloped yourself. Maluleke Hlulani Int’l, a known speaker and business coach loves to say “love does not get better by chance, it gets better by choice.” I truly believe he is right. It has to be made clear that your life is not anybody’s lottery project that may or may not work well. It’s not a gambling tournament, it’s a personal journey whose road is constructed by choices. Whether you arrive at your destination of purpose or not, is your choice.

REASONS FOR EITHER ONE OF THE OUTCOMES ARE

• The values you have developed and adopted. Your values shape your thinking and actions. People without personal values are tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. They are swayed by every blow. 
• The way you trained yourself to see life and respond to it. I head of this statement, “it is not the weight of the object that’s too heavy, its your muscle that’s weak to carry”. Your ability to respond to challenges is based on how you have developed yourself.  

Growing up in the villages made me realise this is true. Ordinary people celebrate when it rains for a moment after a long sunny day. But then,  they complain about the same rain they welcomed with joy few hours later. At the same time, a farmer will celebrate even more if it rains a bit longer because it will water the orchards and fill the dam such that it becomes easy for him to continue with the plantation. Their response to the rain is not due to the rain it self, it is attributed to the meaning of rain to either one of them. A farmer is trained to appreciate the importance of rain because it brings in production. An ordinary person complains of rain because it keeps him indoors unnecessarily. 

The quality of the choices you make daily. The kind of results you are seeing in your life are an elastration of the kind of choices you make. People with a well established value system have a clear understanding of the impact of their choices in their lives. When I see what people are getting out of their lives, I can tell of their value system.

IMPACT OF CHOICES

You are where you are today because of the choices you made yesterday. And you will be where you will be tomorrow because of the choices you are making today. I have often heard people say “I have worked hard for so many years...now I am reaping the rewards.” Your actions decides your results. It is however, possible that you may be doing much and getting less. In that case you need to check other factors such as the environment where you are working. But in any case, you reap what you have planted. 

I believe that your choice have some form of effect in your life that are decided by natural laws. Take for example, the such as “for every action, there is a reaction” as stated by Sir Isaac Newton; no matter how we can argue that law, you will still find it affecting your life, one way or another. Our choices determine:

• Whether we live in the comfort of what we have today, hoping it will stay that way, or we create better opportunities for ourselves.

• Whether we live from hand to mouth, or plant a garden that will sustain us beyond working years.

• Whether our choices fulfil short term needs or long term purposes.

• Whether we allow the desperations of today to make us ignore the consequences that our current decisions and actions have on our future.

Our actions are usually based on two value systems. These systems have a bearing on what you see in many African people. If we can be able to overcome these somewhat distorted mentalities, we may be able to overcome poverty in Africa.

1. The hunter’ Value System (can be called the African or the consumer’s value system). This system is based on the strong desire to satisfy the immediate need and less about the future or long term consequences of today’s actions. It is also seen with a compulsive material consumption and inability to preserve wealth.

2. The farmers value system. This system focuses on the choices and actions employed today in relation to the results or bearing they have on the future. These are described well by the ever so wise King Solomon when he said “cast your bread upon the waters, for you shall find it after many days”. He teaches people to sow in the morning, at noon and at night and never observe the wind. Unfortunately, only a few minorities have grabbed this liberating truth and has set them free.

Both the systems have benefits, losses and consequences, but the first value system has more consequences than benefits.

The Hunter’s value system

This is the systems that tend to see small things as big and big things as small. Usually small problems are magnified to an extent of terrifying people from taking positive action. At the same time, the things are real problems that require focused, intelligent attention and solutions, they are often ignored or banked for future intervention which more than half the time, they are never looked at again until crises arises from such ignorance.

People in this system usually have one natural talent but are not able to industrialise it. They can be seated on a well of Gold, but never realise its potential. You see, this kind have the ability to catch  a good prey but fail to roast it ant eat. Proverbs 19: 24 says “a lazy man buries his hand in a bowl. And will not no so much as bring it to his mouth again.” And further says in chapter 13:23 that there is so much food in the land the poor. The question is why are they not eating it but starve to death in a fat land? 

I believe the following explains their behaviour:

• They focus on what is seen and needed now, to satisfy the needs of today. Anything hidden does not exist in their vocabulary. For something to exist, it must be visible or have been seen before in their natural eye.

• They focus on enticing activities that may not have any pain involved (most of the time). These don’t like to pay the price, and enjoy later. They want to eat and then, pay. Sometimes they do not afford the price and end up losing life or pay it with their dignity. They do not see that life tends offer opportunities wrapped in hard work and temporal pain.

• They think of working when they want to eat, or to get something to satisfy the need of today.

• They tend to think on their stomach. They make decisions that are motivated by a hunger. Hence they can start rich and end in poverty because of the consumption mentality. 

• They work like worms, mostly eat their food and leave nothing, or a stink. Worms are very important part of the ecosystem. They help in making sure that the natural grazing land gets fertilizers from decayed natural products. The problem is, after eating and turning carcases into secondary products, they die. Their life cycle is be born and then eat your way to death.

• Hunter’s usually do not see the diversity of their wealth.

- Like African’s: they can be surrounded by so much wealth and opportunities and not see them. They can import the food that they have because they can’t process it. I mean, Africa produce so much from the wealth of natural resources such as Gold, Diamond, Oil, Platinum and many other products, but we still have to send these products to be processed else where.

- I believe that’s why many foreign nationals flock into South Africa to South Africa. Thy can come to your village, or city and start a legitimate business next to your house, or even rent your garage to take the wealth that you did not see.

- South Africans see Poverty... Foreigners see wealth. 

• They have long term exposure to negatives that end up becoming realities. 

• They are skilful in Identifying their prey: but they are somewhat underdeveloped in catching the pray.  If they do catch it, they struggle to process it.  

- They can identify one prey, but spend the whole day trying to catch it, and fail. The good thing about them is that they can study the animal so well: how it sleeps, how it moves, its weaknesses, etc. But the same animal that they have studied so well, still plays mind tricks with them that leave hungry and frustrated.

- Mostly they have more abortions in their minds than they give birth to what they conceive. If ideas were tangible products that expires if not used, some people’s minds would be dirtier than a Municipal Waste Site

• They are single minded. They can only pursue one thing at a time. Hence   the phenomena of multiple streams of income sound like unnecessary. Instead, they would  rather work over time. They can’t have two investments at once but settle to work for a salary for life. Once they get into one thing, it’s difficult for them to pursue another goal.  Because of lack of diligence, they are put to hard labour for life. Systenious Makhubele, a speaker and author of Get Out of Your Way says; if hard work paid more, our parents would be very rich.

• They use more strength, time and resources to achieve one single item. Their activities cannot be equated to the results.

• They can’t breed their own food; they rely on what is available out there.

• They have to start afresh every day. They cant develop a system that sustains their provision without them. For them to eat, they have to go to the field by themselves. Similar to the tender business. You can wake up broke, sleep rich and be broke again the following day because your business can’t produce products that sell themselves and generate income when you are not watching. You are not rich until you make money in your sleep.

• They don’t know how to expand to new territories.

• They think that the only way to get rich is by putting extra hours without redesigning the system. 

• They have more but cannot determine the value of what they have. Hence the poorest nations are those endowed with more natural resources, they can’t decide on the price of what they have. They cannot even process it to secondary products. They eat what they have as it is.

• They have a plan for the next weekend or two, but have no idea how their lives should be in five years. Live in the moment

***

I WILL SHARE WITH YOUR THE FARMER'S VALUE SYSTEM ON MY ENXT ARTICLE.

however, let me conclude this articel by siting that successful people are those who had the courage to answer the questions that we were all asking and later turned around to sell their answers to us (not my own).