By George Chingarande
It has been said that to reach our destination we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it, but we must sail and not lie at anchor. This is a universal truth that needs no seasoning. However, it begs a very important question. The big question is what is your desired destination; financially, professionally, materially, spiritually, physically and even politically? Do you intend to live and die a non entity in abject poverty and oblivion or do you desire a place in the glorious sunshine? Where you are today need not be your final destination.
For many centuries humanity has labored under the burden of one simple question-What is the formula for success? Study after study has been done. Successful persons, events and campaigns from very diverse sources have been dissected and thoroughly analyzed. While the proverbial jury is still out with the verdict, a compelling argument in support of four factors is on the ascendancy. These critical factors are dreams, desires, determination and action.
Winners Have Goals, but Losers Have Illusions
Winners in life have a very clear sense of purpose and direction. They have a predetermined destination they are working towards. Like Martin Luther King jnr, they believe in dreams, and dare say without equivocation what that dream is. As James Allen put it, "The greatest achievement was at first and for a time only a dream." There are three aspects of that dream that merit further attention. Firstly, the dream is held at a conscious level. It is therefore not merely a dream about a pie in the sky, but a compelling vision of the future. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, the future belongs to those that have dreams.
Secondly, there is a realization that no one has eternity to accomplish his dreams. This brings an awareness of passing time and a sense of urgency. In the most instructive of examples, the great achievers even have a hundred hour agenda, which is a catalogue of goals and tasks they aim to achieve in a hundred hour outlook period. The major difference between a winner's dream and a loser's dream is that the winner sets a specific timeline for his dream, and the loser has none. A dream with a timeline ceases to be a dream and becomes a goal, but sooner rather than later a dream without a timeline ceases to be a dream and becomes an illusion.
Winners therefore have goals but losers have illusions. Thirdly, the winner's dream is described succinctly in words and in pictures, on actual paper and also on the canvas of his mind. It is not uncommon to find a winner with a card in his pocket bearing a description of his ambitions, dreams and desires. They consciously keep their goals within their sights. The losers are totally bankrupt when it comes to goal reminder strategies. The funny thing about life is that those that have no goals will always make room for the purposeful people to pass. Observe how, when just before the bank closes the idle loitering in the way always make room for the purposeful rushing for the bank to pass.
Winners Don't Quit, and Quitters Don't Win
The winners are distinguished by their burning desire to win. They put emotion into their goals. They pursue their ambitions with passion and panache. They crave for success like deer panting after brooks of water, and not once do they allow this zeal and desire to dessert them. They have an insatiable success libido which is the source of their staying power and a zeal for their cause always consumes them. To their zeal, they add grit and determination. It is not just the content of the dream that separates the winner from the rest of the pack, but the passion and the dogged never-say-die sheer determination with which that dream is pursued is even more important. The losers only have tepid wishes and lukewarm ambitions.
All human beings are wired to succeed, and engineered to win. However, they differ markedly in the degree to which they are prepared to exert themselves in pursuit of their dreams. This is largely a matter of choice. Under trying circumstances which are, by the way, a fact of life losers trade their dreams for comfort and convenience. Winners never quit, and quitters never win. It is that simple.
Finally, the winners never lie at anchor. They are aware that vision without action is only a pipedream, and action without vision just passes time. Armed with this knowledge, the winners daily unleash a blitz of massive actions strategically linked and aligned to their dreams. They do not procrastinate but they take action in the now fully aware that tomorrow may never be. They keep knocking and prodding for opportunities. They also keep walking and motoring towards their desired destinations. Some prefer to call this a bias for action, but I elect to call it the spirit of relentless forward motion. In the history of mankind no worthwhile agenda was ever advanced by inaction.
| Whatever your calling in life let me urge you to banish the lethargy and malaise that easily besets us all, and pursue your dream with relentless forward motion. Keep Walking and never lie at anchor. The world is controlled by those that show up in the field of action. The author is a motivational speaker, management consultant, and author of the best selling book: Rebound the winning mantra. |
