Monday, May 22, 2017
I AM GLAD I DID
We find ourselves in distressing moments reminiscencing on
what we could have done. Eventually that resuscitates fear in us that we can
achieve no more. We end up becoming disillusioned. But Zig Ziggler gives us the
most wonderful words of wisdom. He lecturers: “at the end of your days, do not
be the kind of people who say ‘I wish I had, I wish I had, I wish I had.’ Be
the kind of people who say ‘I am glad I did, I am glad I did, I am glad I did.”
Often times we regret as a result of procrastination. We
keep on postponing our dreams as if we have the luxury to stop the ticking of
the clock. If your dream is to go back to school just go back to school, time
will never be static waiting for you. If you see business opportunities, do not
hesitate; take the initiative to grow your business. Most people would complain
of capital. Capital is not a challenge in business; it is profitable ideas that
are a challenge in business
To move on, to be able to say I am glad I did, one must be
prepared to let some things go. To live a dream is to sacrifice some bits of
life. One of the world’s leading speakers Paul McGee in a presentation he calls
Shut Up and Move On (SUMO) says: ‘when you let go some stuff, you are making
room for bigger and better stuff to come into your life.”
The fact of the matter is that it is necessary that you let
go the energy drainers in your life, people that do not challenge your thinking
are not a necessary package to have in your life. You need to let go of
meetings that do not add value to your life. You need to let go of social
gatherings where you learn nothing that can propel you forward. As long as you
keep on attaching yourself to circumstances, events and people that will
maintain the status quo, you will never go anywhere. In the end you will say “I
wish I had.’
The life lesson is so simple, if you want to be prepared to
do business, you have to be ready to do things that you are not comfortable
with. It is tiresome and exhausting training on the football pitch everyday but
that is what makes Christiano Ronaldo and Messi and the world top footballers
to be the best they are. In all the pleasure and delight they give us, there is
great pain in their bones. Usain Bolt runs almost everyday just preparing for
Olympic games. Most business people do not sleep adequately at night because
they are busy discussing business deals but out of such sleepless nights come
success.
At the time war was looming to topple Sadaam Husein, the
airlines business was in shambles as fuel costs had escalated. But even in such
a crisis, the small Virgin Airlines and Richard Branson thought of doing
something unexpected. There were hostages in Iraq that Sadaam Hussein had
agreed t release but no planes were flying into Baghdad. Richard Branson
negotiated through King Hussein of Jordan to be allowed to fly into Baghdah to
airlift the hostages.
Branson narrates a wonderful story in the end. He says: ‘By
flying into Baghdad and rescuing hostages Virgin had again usurped British
Airways traditional role. ….although this plane was just one of four planes
Virgin Atlantic operated, suddenly we looked like a much larger airline.’ That
event possibly ballooned the image of Virgin Atlantic and must have propelled
its growth. Richard Branson did what no any other airline could be comfortable
with and that made a difference
The world has no shortage of people that manifest to us that
the ‘I am glad I did’ is possible. Oprah Winfrey says. ‘I was raped at the age
of 9 yet am now one of the most influential people in the world.’ She never let
the rape instance be a blockade to her life. She went on to live a life of her
dreams. Bill Gates says, ‘I didn’t even
complete my university education but became the world richest man.’ If Bill
Gates had procrastinated on his dream he would have been saying “I wish I had.”
He cherishes in the term ‘I am glad I did’
Celebrated neurosurgeon Ben Carson adds his weight when he
says: ‘I struggled academically throughout elementary school yet became the
best neurosurgeon in the world.’ Lionel Messi has an exciting background to
confess when he says: ‘I used to serve tea at a shop to support my football
training and still became the world best footballer.’ And even despite the 27
years incarceration in prison Nelson Mandela became president of the Republic
of South Africa. He must have died with his heart cherishing ‘I am glad I did.’
To eventually come to the point we can cherishingly say I am
glad I did, there is need to do a soul search into what comes easy to you as
leadership guru Robin Sharma usually says. It is people that find talking easy
that become excellent broadcasters, it is those that love cracking jokes that
become influential actors, it is usually those that make science subjects easy
that join the medical and aviation fields, it is those that find pleasure in
running that win marathons, it is those that find pleasure in fighting that
eventually become celebrated boxers and wrestlers, it is those that cherish
their voices that become singers mesmerizing millions of people. The point it,
nothing can stop you but yourself. Be the one to say in the end, ‘I am glad I
did.’
