Disturb the present!
Sharon Wood, one of the first women to climb Mount Everest had this to say: “It wasn’t a matter of physical strength but inner strength.
Advertisement
The conquest lay within my own mind.
I had to penetrate those barriers of self-imposed limitation and get through to the good stuff- the stuff called potential, 90 per cent of which we rarely use.”
The words of Wood came to mind when l decided to write on the need for one to get out of their comfort zone to be relevant or stay successful.
You certainly need to disturb your present to move from good, to great; and that is what this week’s issue is about.
Now, let me break it down a bit more with this question.
How many times have you tried to get yourself out of your current situation to try a new job or another opportunity but felt afraid to do so?
Well, if you have, remember that you are not alone in feeling that way.
There are many documented situations where people had felt the fear of failure so much that they never tried anything differently.
And there are situations too that the people felt the fear but did it anyway!
Some of these daring ones are those we call trailblazers today.
The right mental model to build is to see an obstacle as just an opportunity to show your strength, in all ways.
Nothing in life comes easy, and staying above average is not good enough; move from good to great, you must be ready to dare when others are afraid.
Look at the story of the lion for example.
The lion is not commonly referred to as the “king of the jungle” because it is the fastest or the biggest in the jungle. No.
The elephant comes in with the right weight, size and tactics to be the biggest, and in terms of speed, perhaps, the cheetah will beat the lion in a 100 metres dash!
But when the lion sees the elephant, he doesn’t see a big animal.
The lion sees food and knows that if the game is lost hunger beckons so will adopt the right approach to deal with the risk in such a way that the game would be won.
The display of strength and strategy by the lion, as I watch in various documentaries on television and other online channels, always baffles.
I have seen some periods in such documentaries where the lion has had to run away from danger to save his life! In effect, there is never an easy life, it mainly depends on what is driving your motivation.
Just bear in mind that driving with the handbrake on will always make the car stall.
You must let the brakes go and engage the other controls so that you can simply navigate safely on the road.
Your life is just like that, and every aspect of it tells its own story.
The road ahead of you is the path you are on.
Once you have made up your mind up to take a certain road, you must have knowledge of the potential hazards you could face.
This informs you about how your journey is going to be like.
So, if you have decided to become accountant or economist you must know what it means to be one.
Thankfully, in this our time of great advancement in technology, there are various tools you can use to leapfrog the challenges our forebears faced.
Today, there are various private and public universities, globally, offering adult education relevant to your needs.
When you were a boy or girl growing up, you went to school, perhaps, because someone forced you to.
In adult education, you go to school or undertake a training programme because you want to.
What this means is that once you take responsibility for your life you are better placed to make the right decisions for the future.
But only when you are prepared to disturb your present.
As Wood puts it: “The conquest lay within my own mind”.
Thomas Edison is one other person whose life on earth saw some significant changes to the way we live on earth.
To encourage others to look beyond their comfort zone, Edison had this to say: “If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves”. Indeed.
You know what? Feel the fear but do it anyway! There is no reward staying on the sidelines and cheering on other people’s dream.
Walk your own dream because impossibility is only the mind of the pessimist.
A pessimist sees the problems in every situation, but an optimist sees the opportunity in every situation—including where there are glaring problems.
Disturbing your present may involve taking up new training programmes to envelope new skills.
You must be resilient and agile, a go-getter and ready to take that transformational leap forward.
After all, you either win or learn with every project that you undertake.
Bear in mind that the human mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its former shape.
No. Your mind opens and becomes alert to new possibilities whenever you stretch it by engaging in creative and analytical thinking.
The growth mindset should be your aspiration.
Have a personal strategy on how you want to transform your life or make the next leap forward. Don’t live in hope because hope is never a strategy.
In fact, hope is the worst thing to lean on if you have not made the preparations to meet the opportunity you are hoping for.
With a good strategy you can sail into an area no one has been able to go—the blue ocean philosophy.
Whenever you see an invention, it means that someone sat down and thought about its use and went ahead to invent it.
What are you working on for others to enjoy? Think about it.
Choose to challenge, dare to dream. Disturbing your present and getting out of your comfort zone gives peace of mind in the future.
