Sundaymail Editor
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
Every setback that you face is a setup for a comeback, if you are willing to forgive yourself and begin again.
It is never too late to begin again — more intelligently. You can retool your model and begin again. The sun will shine again tomorrow and there is hope.
In school, there is nothing that I hated more than corrections. One of my English teachers would ask you to repeat a word that you misspelt at least 10 times.
The exercise then was pure torture and I thought it was the teacher’s way of inflicting pain. Sometimes, the comments that teachers would scribble over my otherwise neat work was angering. Decades after leaving school, I now look back with awe and a clear realisation that what I thought was cruelty was actually love.
The corrections were the key to mastery. The corrections were drills in good spelling, grammar and diction. The best I can say today to all my teachers is: “Please, forgive my childish anger. Thank you for making me do corrections. You helped raise my self-awareness and reveal my blind spots. As you were correcting me, you were actually building me and empowering me. You taught me to give attention to detail, to write and speak well.”
The myth that greatness is moving from success to success, and even more success is an empty myth. The reality of greatness is that it is about moving from failure, through adversity, facing challenges, sometimes succeeding, but keeping on and beginning again for as many times as is necessary.
Greatness takes courage. It is having the courage to begin again as many times as necessary until you get there. Stop looking at life through the lens of a bruised ego and dare to begin again. Face forward because the future is bigger than your past. It is never too late to begin again. Use every crisis that you face as an opportunity to begin again. Revise your strategy often to see if you need to begin again. Study your failures because they contain seeds of wisdom that you can use to begin again — more intelligently.
Have the courage to look at yourself in the mirror, forgive yourself and begin again. Stop tying yourself up and imprisoning your potential. Begin again and do great things. It is possible!
I once visited a friend in hospital after being thrown off a horse. She was not trying to get the horse killed and waiting to kick it. She said in horse riding, unless you are fatally injured, when you fall off, you must immediately mount the horse again. Why? The reason is, if you put this act of courage off, you immediately reinforce your fear of riding again. When you fall off any horse, begin again and ride again. Do not let fear take hold.
Get back on your horse. You may have been thrown off your proverbial horse and landed on the ground with a thump and a thud. Do not allow yourself to wallow in self-pity.
Get off the ground and begin again. Dare to believe again and celebrate each moment and opportunity to begin again. Some will laugh, just begin again. They do not know where you are going and if you can dare begin again, you will have the last laugh. Celebrate each moment and begin again as though you never attempted and failed. To do differently, you must decide differently.
Mr Michael Jackson’s song “I’m Bad!” became a worldwide hit. In verse 3 of the song, he sings: “We can change the world tomorrow. This could be a better place, ah. If you don’t like what I’m saying, then won’t you slap my face?”
He then chimes the chorus: “I’m bad, I’m bad. You know it!”
Choose to adopt this acronym: BAD — Begin Again Differently! Whatever you face, be BAD — Begin Again Differently. Give yourself three hours to pout and sulk, then get up, swallow your pride and get cracking.
Take another test
I admire those who pass their driving tests at the first try. I went for my driving test more than 10 times before I succeeded. Sometimes I would come back home frustrated, thinking that the driving examiner dismissed me on a mere petty fault. At other times, I would bang a drum or fail the parallel parking or hill start. However, I finally made it and I have been driving confidently for many years now. At one point, it felt as though it would never happen.
Do not run away from your challenges. Take your test of life again and again and again until you make it. Boldly live out the future before you, but taking a bigger view of life.
When you veer off course, refocus and begin again. When you backslide, reflect and begin again. When the going gets tough, rest if you must, but do not quit. Just begin again.
How you see yourself is important. Even if you fail, do not see yourself as a failure.
Failure is the event and not you, the person. As for the event of failure — it is real and you can learn from it.
As for you, the person, you can begin again. Do not let pride get in the way.
Do not let pride blind you. Do not let arrogance kill your future. Pride is an enemy if it stops you from beginning again and going towards your goal. Fear is an enemy if it puts you into a shell and causes you to retreat from life. Begin again and do not let anything stop you from trying and if you fail, begin again.
Go for your goals and dreams. Begin again and never let yesterday’s obstacles become permanent blocks.
Do not let today’s disappointment send you into hiding. There is power in compounding action. There is power in repeated and sustained attempts.
True greatness is a result of many episodes of beginning again. Greatness is a cumulation of repeated and relentless episodes of beginning again.
Big things come from small repeated humble attempts. Begin again and have the courage to unleash the greatness that is hiding in you.
Beginning again is a destiny-setting move. What are you afraid of challenging again?
Face it and begin again. What are you afraid of? Begin again and see if fear will linger any longer. What goals are getting you scared to death? Begin again and do it.
What is fear doing to you? Do not let fear rob you of your destiny. What would you do if you were not afraid? I am sure you would begin again, more intelligently. Take beginning-again action today, it may be your tenth attempt but who cares? Do not stop until you get there. Begin again.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and a virtual, hybrid and in-person workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com
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