Monday, May 22, 2017
FIGMENT
OF OUR IMAGINATION
Whatever we are is but a figment of our own
imagination. People that have made it big did imagine becoming that big. Sir Thomas Edison imagined an electric bulb
and failed 9999 times to make one until when he succeeded at the 10000th
trial. Blaming circumstances for our failure to make it big is nothing but a
mere manifestation of our ego-defensive attitude.
The US$7 billion fortune David Gehen points out that
‘I have always thought that each person invented himself for whatever reason,
through whatever circumstances, through whatever he has gone through. We are
each a figment of our imagination.’
We fail in life because we trample on our
imaginations, because we lose the belief and confidence to go ahead with our
ideas. In the end we do not work very hard towards achieving our dreams and we
start seeing obstacles.
The US$3.2 billion net worth Howard Schultz has this
to say: ‘don’t allow anyone, friend, family, acquaintance, teachers, whoever it
is. Don’t allow anyone to tell you that whatever you are dreaming for yourself
and your family is not possible. It is possible.’ The world’s renowned
motivational and leadership speaker Les Brown adds: ‘What ever dream that you
may have, know that it is possible.’
To become what we imagine to become entails that we cut
ties with the pains of the past. Where we come from matters nothing. Our
education background and credentials matter nothing. What matters is working
hard towards your dream. Consider one of Malawi’s business tycoons Jimmy Koreia
Mpatsa. He was born to a single parent in a family of three boys and girls, he
says he was never lucky to get any place at the university colleges. He later
privately studied Advanced Level Economics, English literature and law but did
not sit for exams. His first job was a buying clerk at Import and Export. His
services were once terminated at Import and Export and was jobless for around 7
months during which he survived on
writing short stories for magazines such as ‘Star’ of Malawi, ‘Parade’ of Zimbabwe
and ‘Readers Digest.’
Little can you imagine that over 20 years later Jimmy
Koreia Mpatsa is a billionaire with establishments with a net value of over 5
billion Malawi kwachas. It entails therefore that no matter his having no
college degree, no matter his parental background, no matter his joining
employment at a junior rank, he never ceased imagining to become a millionaire
and now billionaire. If he had any vestiges of doubt then we could not have
been talking of him as he would have failed.
Hardwork is one catalyst for transforming
imagination into reality. US$ 5 billion fortune Richard Branson emphasizes, ‘to
create a business you have to initially work hard. It is really hard work.’ US$325
million net worth Jerry Weintraub adds: ‘I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.’
US$45 billion net worth Michael Bloomberg weighs in, ‘in the end luck plays a
very important part in how successful you are but the harder you work and the
longer you work, the lucky you are going to be.’ Howard Schultz brings in a lesson
worth noting: ‘people need to understand that we cannot take a break. We have
competitors who want to take food off our tables….to build a sustainable
successful business you have to eradicate the human behavior of relaxing, the
human behaviours of the feeling like you have won.’ And US$ 1 billion net worth
Michael Eisner says, ‘mediocrity is what fearful people will always settle
for.’
It is now time to write the next chapter of our
lives, to become what we imagine. If we imagine becoming failures we will
certainly become failures. If we dream big, we will become big. Donald Trump
well said, ‘if you are going to do something, do it big.’ The US$67 billion net
worth Warren Buffet stresses, ‘develop a habit of success.’ The habit of
success is as a result of our imagination and hard working spirit.
