Here is the last of our three part series on the common things that hold people back from becoming all they can be. you can check out the first two in the posts preceding this one. As you read through, take not of what you identify with so that you can find a way to deal with it and rise to the top.
Self-Doubt
When God called Moses to go and deliver the Israelites from
the captivity of Egypt, the first question Moses poses to God is who am I?
Jeremiah is quick to say I am just a youth. Gideon has so much doubt in his
ability that God has to prove over and over again that he is the man to get the
job done. The interesting thing is that all these men went ahead and
accomplished great feats the moment they believed in their ability to get it
done.
Self-doubt is a huge limiting factor to the greatness of
many people. Many of us don’t feel good enough or pretty enough or deserving of
the honor that is being put on us. Like Moses we ask who am I? We have little
confidence in our ability to accomplish anything worthwhile. We don’t see
ourselves as capable of exploits. We are comfortable getting lost in the crowd.
Until we get rid of this doubt and believe God to be with us
like he was with these great generals of the past, we will remain stuck in our
predicaments. You need a healthy dose of self-confidence to be able to go out
there and do what needs to be done. This should ideally stem from the
understanding that God is by your side walking with you every step of the way.
Are you a victim of self-doubt? How does it show up in your life? How are you
dealing with it?
Lack of vision
When you have no definite chief aim, chances are that you
will not go very far in life. Where there is no vision, people cast off
restraint. Proverbs 29:18 The possibility of living aimlessly is greatly
increased when there is no guiding principle for your life. If you are keen on living a life of
greatness, you must first define what that greatness looks like. There are many
competing aspirations in our lives and we must choose where we will expend our
energy. Without that, we will be spread thin in many different directions and
have nothing concrete to show for our efforts. A failure to decide what we will
pursue means we will have very little motivation for life or any of the other
things that matter. When you have no vision, your efforts are haphazard at best
because whatever results you get are okay with you. It does not matter how many
resources you have at your disposal, if they are not channeled towards creating
something worthwhile, they will amount to nothing. Resources, favor, luck and
all those things we hope for follow vision and not the other way around. A
vision keeps the wrong people out of your life. Those who do not align with
what you are doing will not find room in your life for as long as it is clear.
Part of the reason why we are surrounded by people who offer very little is
that we are not yet clear about what we want and as such everyone feels
comfortable around us. What is your core business here? That tells you what you
should be spending 80% of your time on. You cannot call something a priority
when you are struggling to create time and set aside resources for it.
A lack of vision guarantees you a lacklustre life. With
scattered efforts, incongruent utilization of resources and no clear outcomes,
your activity will not make sense even to you. A lack of vision is one of the
greatest leashes used to hold us back from living a life of meaning and significance.
Money
I have put money as low as this because it is not such a
limiting factor when you have taken care of a lot of the issues mentioned
above. Like I said in my submission above, resources follow vision.
Having said that, a shortage of money can become a huge
limiting factor to how much you can accomplish. Many people have great ideas
that will never see the light of day because they do not have the money to
execute on them. Great ideas require great men and women to carry them out.
Great men and women do not come cheap. Money can limit how far you can carry
out your ideas. The Super wealthy have the luxury of choosing what to do
because their resources give them the liberty. One who is just starting out
must make many compromises and sacrifice aspects of what they want to do until
an opportune time. This keeps great ideas from being fully implemented. Anytime
your ideas are caged, you are put on a leash and cannot move beyond your
confinement.
There is a way around it though. You must be quick to embrace
the concept of interdependence. Since you do not have all you need, instead of
waiting forever to have it, you would be better served by joining forces with
others who bring the strengths you don’t have. This is why Venture capitalists
and angels exist. If finance is your limitation, look for someone who has it
but doesn’t have a clear idea how to put it to work. Such a person will help
you bring out your greatness. This brings up another leash that we probably
need to talk about as well. Selfishness.
Selfishness.
Believe it or not, trying to make it all on your own is not
usually the best strategy. Don’t let the need to call yourself a self-made man
keep you from connecting with other people who can be of help to you. The
concept of a self-made man is a fallacy. You must find a way to keep your ego
in check if you will be able to connect with the missing pieces of your
greatness. There were strategic people in the journey of Joseph to premiership
in the Bible. Think about all the people a politician needs to surround himself
with if he is to ascend to the presidency. From the funders of the campaign, to
lobbyists and many other people who work in the shadows to make the campaign a
success. You cannot run a one man show and expect to go very far. If you truly
want to release your greatness, be willing to accept help from others who have
a lot to contribute to your journey to the top. Don’t see yourself as the
source of all wisdom and strength. Know what you are good at and what you suck
at. That understanding will enable you select people who can come in and
complement your strengths. Let’s be clear on the fact that you need a circle
around you to reach certain heights and your task remains to choose the right
people to be in that circle. Accept the help offered by others who see things
in the same light as you. You must also be willing to accommodate divergent
views within your circle. If no one questions your proposals or seeks to
improve on them, you have the wrong people in the circle. Surrounding yourself
with Yes-men is the biggest sign of a selfish individual. You want to have
people who bring a different perspective so that the task is accomplished in a
manner that encompasses the diversity and dynamism required.
Success/failure
Finally success and failure are both seeds which can either
propel you forward or keep you stuck. Failure if it is misinterpreted can
define you and determine your action going forward. It is possible for you to get
stuck in the place where you are not attempting anything out of your comfort
zone simply because you tried something and failed. Failure must be looked at
as a lesson. Someone has gone as far as to say in everything I do I either win
or I learn. Failure is you finding a way that doesn’t work. Thomas Edison failed
9999 times in his attempts to make the incandescent light bulb. How many times
have you failed before you called it a day? You must keep trying and refining
your method until you get the desired result. Failure can be a fatal blow if
you let it. It can keep you from ever trying again. Failure is a terrible leash
because it comes with evidence. Beware of the hold of failure on your ability
to move forward.
Success on the other hand can also hold you back. It does so
by numbing you. Bill Gates says Success is a lousy teacher. It teaches you to
think that you are smarter than everyone else. You must guard against the
effects of your success as much as those of your failure. Success makes you
take things for granted. As hard as it is to get to the top, it takes a lot
more effort to stay there for long. You must maintain the posture of a student
if you will remain at the top. Success massages your ego and leaves you feeling
invincible. The moment you begin to think you are immune to failing, you have
already started your descent. It is wise to manage your success lest it
destroys you. The enemy of great is good so they say. You are not kept from
greatness by your failings rather it is your prior success that can stand in
the way of another attempt at a bigger challenge.
What other leashes can you think of that keep people from
reaching their full potential? What are you going to work on as a matter of
urgency to ensure that you give yourself the best chance of finishing at the
top? Share your thoughts and other contributions in the comments below. I am passionate about helping people break out of their limits and living remarkable lives. If you are keen on that, reach out to me and let's see how I can be of help.
asenasam@gmail.com, +254725832477
No comments:
Post a Comment