adminArthur Marara Motivation for Success
“The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.” (Arnold Schwarzenegger). We live in a world that has limitations. There are many people who cannot do certain things because of situations that are operational in their lives. Limits can be positive or negative.
Positive limits are there to protect you, in other words they regulate you. These include things like speed limits which are meant to protect you when you are driving and also to protect other road users. Certain professions have codes of conduct in order to define the limits within which members can operate.
This is again to protect the members themselves and the members of the public. We can mention quite a number of these limits but in the interests of ink, we will not do so. Negative limits are those limits that affect and hinder you from reaching your God-given potential. This week, we want to focus on the negative limits. Champions defy the limits upon their lives, and refuse to be history but choose to make history.
Limitations are there in life
Acknowledging the fact that there are limitations is not a sign of weakness but a sign of wisdom. You can never face and deal with what you deny. There are a lot of people who have brilliant ideas but cannot kick start them because they do not have the capital to implement them. That is a limitation. Some people have awesome business ideas but they do not have anyone who can assist them to develop, that is a limitation. The cases are too many to mention. There are various sources of limitations in life. I have just picked a few below;
Limits placed by our backgrounds — Backgrounds are real, and you do not choose them. You can come from a thoroughly poor background or from one where there are no people who made significant breakthroughs in their own life and as such they cannot or could not give you a better start. Some people are born with physical disabilities; some are born with certain health conditions that characterise their lives even up to their death. We do not choose these any of these conditions!
Limits placed by our associations — The people you interact with can determine what is possible and what is not possible for you. A number of people lost their dreams and ideas at the hands of colleagues who laughed them off.
Limits placed by a prevailing environment — There are people who grew up in certain environments where it was viewed as impossible to do certain things. A lot of dreams died because they were exposed to the wrong environment. They could not grow because they were limited. Environment can also be in the form of an existing mindset of the time. You can be limited by a certain way of thinking that you choose to entertain in your life.
Limitations that we place upon ourselves — We are born without limitations. We can achieve anything that we set our minds and hearts to. Several people however impose limits upon themselves and they never get to live their lives to the maximum. If you tell yourself you cannot do something, you will never do it because you would have placed a limit upon yourself. You doubt yourself that you cannot do something; you will never be able to do it. “Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless.” (Jamie Paolinetti, American Cyclist).
Challenge your limits
History has and will always make room for people who refuse to be bound by their limitations. Great people are like you and me, they discovered what they wanted, and decided to go for it regardless of the limits that were in front of them. Refuse to be bound by the failures of your past, refuse to be a victim of the mistakes of other people. Face the limits, and take a step of faith in the direction that you need to go. I will demonstrate to you some people who challenged the limits in their lives and inspired generations;
Steve Jobs — Adopted by birth by the Jobs family at the instance of a college couple which could not take care of him. This did not hold him down, he looked ahead, worked and develop his passion for computing and left the earth a better place than he found it. Apple Inc has transformed the world of personal computing. It started with a person who chose to ignore where he was coming from and resolved to see and seize the future. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and exhibiting your helplessness to the world.
Jesse Owens —Probably unknown at the times that he left for the Berlin Olympics in 1936. What was widely known was that he hailed from a poor peasantry family in Alabama. He placed his family on the world map and inspired the world by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4×100 meter relay team. From humble beginnings he was regarded as the most successful athlete at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Do not let your background hold you down, raise your confidence, and go for your destiny. It does not matter where you are coming from, what matters is where you are going.
Wilma Rudolph — Born prematurely on June 23, 1940, in St. Bethlehem, Tennessee. She was diagnosed with polio at the age of six and the doctors said that she will never be able to walk for the rest of her life without the aid of braces. She did not allow this opinion to be the reality of her life. Determined to defy her limits she started undergoing therapy which greatly helped her improve her condition. At the Summer Olympics in Rome in she became the first American woman to win at a single Olympics. She demonstrated to the world that with the will power, dedication, and work, all things are possible. What have people said about you? What opinions have been made about you and your future?
Elliot Mujaji — Qualified to compete at the 1998 Commonwealth Games before suffering severe burns in an electrical accident. This accident was to claim his arm due to an amputation. He was in a comma for two months. Mujaji worked his way to be a respected paralympian Champion winning for himself and Zimbabwe two Olympic gold medals in Sydney (2000) and Greece (2004). No limits!
Jane Chifamba — In the midst of adversity of male chauvinism she persisted and pursued her dream to become the first female writer in Zimbabwe. Many men would ask her why she was wasting paper writing when the same papers could be used for cigarettes. A prevailing mindset could have limited her, but she challenged it. Her book, Ngano Dzepasichigare goes down history as the first publication by a woman in Zimbabwe.
I can go over and over again showing you the people who have defied the odds, and challenged their limitations. The good news is that, you can do the same for your life. It does not matter the areas of business or trade you might be operating from, you can achieve whatever that you want. Remove the mental breaks that are holding you back, release yourself and attain wonders. “The only limit to our realisation of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the USA).
Join me on Star FM on Wednesdays (09:30am-10:00am) for some moments of inspiration on the Breeze with Tariro and Iyati.
Arthur Marara is an Attorney, Author and Speaker. He is also the author of the Personal Development Toolkit. Send your feedback to [email protected] or Like his page on Facebook, or Whatsapp: +263 772 467 255 or visit www.arthurmarara.com <http://www.arthurmarara.com>.
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