Tuesday, June 27, 2017
PERCEPTION BECOMES REALITY
We dream to live a successful life and we work
towards the attainment of such a dream. But to many, the dream keeps eluding
them till the moment they die. Then the graveyard becomes the richest place in
terms of keeping ideas that will never resurrect.
But in such a challenging environment where many
dreams falter, other dreams find the courage to grow among the weeds and thorns
and become successful. Other dreams conquer the desert of failure and vegetate
it with the grass of success. They build corporate bodies, they become famous, and
they do what many others failed to do. What is their secret? The answer is
simple – nothing beats perception. It is perception that becomes reality. Lance
Kurke was right, if a rock becomes impregnable, then it is because we agree in
advance that it is.
What makes many of us fail is that we see the world
in the way other people said that it is, we do not challenge our thinking.
Success is built on the common denominator of radical thinking. People that do
the unthinkable are the ones that become successful. People that defy all odds
are the ones we cherish and write books about.
The story of Alexander the great gives us the
enthusiasm to challenge conventional thinking. It is a well narrated story that
when Alexander the Great became the de jure and de facto king of Persian
empire, he set off to the east to secure the scurrilous tribes. The tribes
there remained the most elusive. They had one advantage – a citadel they always
retreated to which was called Rock of Aornos
By all means the Rock of Aornos was considered impregnable.
The Rock had more stories supporting its impregnability. The legend was that
even the son of Zeus, Heracles, had failed to capture Aornos. Everyone, it appears
was convinced of the invincibility of the rock.
As Lance Kurke explains, to solve the problem was a
nearly impossible ‘flanking movement’ that would be done by scaling the sheer
walls on one side of the rock (local guides had revealed this sheer cliff to
Alexander). The flank was never defended because it was believed that no one
could scale it. Alexander the Great ordered his troops to scale the rock and
they succeeded.
Nothing is impossible. Your perceptions will result
into reality. If you perceive yourself as an achiever you will always achieve.
If you perceive your future in the light of how others have demeaned you, you
will be a failure. Those that perceive success have the courage to wake up
every moment they fall. Those that perceive failure are contented with falling
than waking up to soldier on their journey.
Never accept the apparent reality presented to you.
Create your own path. Come up with your own business models. Carve your own
philosophy. It is your perception of impregnability that is your greatest weakness
in life. Your rock of Aornos may be lack of education, lack of capital, lack of
confidence, lack of support from other stakeholders. Scale those rocks and you
will succeed. You are greater than any circumstances you can meet. Remember,
obstacles are not in your front to impede you from reaching your destiny, they
are there to be overcomed and no one but you, through the power of your
perceptions, will overcome them.
A motivation lesson says, ‘obstacles are those
frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. You are the
creator of your own destiny. If you want to make your dreams come true, the
first thing you have to do is wake up, always act like you are wearing an
invincible crown.’
Bill Gates has no degree but built the wonderful computers
the world has ever seen. He scaled the Rock of Aornos. For Walt Disney, his
rock of Aornos was rejection from newspaper editors and being labeled as a man
of no talent. Wait a moment, he never agreed and he became the biggest creator
the world admires. Turn your negatives into positives and that will make a
difference.
Listen to the success stories of Thomson
Mpinganjira, Mike Mlombwa, Simbi Phiri, William Kamkwamba, Prof. John
Chiphangwi, Kamuzu Banda, Bingu wa Mutharika and other successful Malawians
then you will learn that what kept them going on despite all the setbacks
encountered in life is that they perceived they would be successful. We become
what we believe we are.
