malvernmugadzikwa
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
WHEN we were in primary school, every year, there would be a magic show.
The magician would come and the whole school would gather to see him do his tricks. He would turn one of the school kids into an egg. He would enthral us with his tricks.
Every time he was about to perform a trick, he would shout: “Hocus pocus!”
After this, lo and behold, some magic would happen.
A lot of people go through life thinking that life is hocus pocus. You cannot gamble with your life. The key to greatness is focus.
You become whatever you focus on. You are your focus. Whatever you focus on, you become.
The enemy of your greatness are the little foxes that steal your attention and break your focus. Erecting fences to protect your focus is essential.
If I can see where your focus is, I can tell where you are going and what you will soon be. Focus ignites brilliance and catalyses progress. Focus is magnetic.
You attract the things that you focus on. Whatever you focus on will grow in significance and relevance to you.
Through your goals, you document your focus. Through your concentrated thoughts, you drill your focus.
Through your plans and sketches, you intensify your focus. Through your action, you bring the focus to life. Through your conversations with like-minded people, you fan the flame of focus.
We live in a sea of information, an avalanche of shocks and a diet of surprises. Negative, disturbing news streams keep pouring like raw sewage. When the unthinkable happens, the unfocused get frazzled.
Protect your focus by being intentional and, if necessary, unplugging from things and contexts that break your focus.
Do not try to fit into spaces that dull your focus.
Your focus is a precious asset worth guarding. To charge towards your greatness, protect your focus. To move ahead, love the sound of the word “no!”
You do not have to feel guilty for saying the word.
This single word will protect you, help you and strengthen your focus.
Master and use it well and often.
Stop chasing the wind. Stop chasing everything that crosses your sight-line.
Stop chasing every story, every post, every call, every fad, every episode and every release.
You cannot do everything, be everywhere or have everything.
Choose your focus and stick to it. Not everything deserves your exclusive attention.
Simplify your life and you will save yourself a lot of stress.
Intensify your focus on what matters most. Clarify your priorities and then focus on them. Do what matters most and your life will mostly matter.
You become whatever you study. All excellence is birthed by ferocious focus on what matters.
There are three important areas of focus. These are inner focus, other focus and outer focus. Your inner focus gives you staying power; it clarifies your values and gives meaning to things. Delay gratification. Put a reflective relay between stimulus and response.
Take time to contemplate and think. Journalling helps you strengthen your inner focus.
Whatever turbulence you may encounter in your environment matters little when you are grounded within.
Your inner focus gives you stability in times of chaos and turbulence. When faced with change, meet it with a grounded inner core. When there is a laser focus within, you can survive anything.
There is something so strong in you that can pass through any fire and outlive any challenge. The quality of your inner focus reflects your true maturity.
Other focus relates to exercising empathy and interacting with others.
Life is not all about what you want and when you want it.
It is your ability to focus on others that reflects your leadership ability.
Emotional intelligence helps all your other intelligences to work better.
Never be so blinded by your focus on the prize that you forget the people around you.
Outer focus refers to the way you interact with the environment and whatever is happening around you. Turbulence happens. Storms come. Chaos is the tonic of growth. Disruption is the key to innovation. Do not fear the winds. Do not be terrified of people. Work with them and maintain your focus. Stir your boat to great shores.
Focus on that which allows you to use your energy best.
It is easy to focus on what is not working. Stop being obsessed with the negative and dysfunctional.
When you focus on what is not working, you start to see skeletons and vampires all around you.
Focusing on what is not working is the key to self-inflicted misery.
You can choose to either be possibility-minded or problem-minded.
Choose your lens. Do not be pushed around by problems and do not be disarmed by what is not working.
Instead, choose to focus on your dreams. Focus on what is working and build on that.
There is an old Indian saying that is worth noting: “When a pickpocket meets a saint, all he sees are the pockets.”
This message is a description of focus.
Focus on what matters and choose to see what matters.
Focus on what you want and not what you do not want.
Focus on your destinations and not the detour.
Indeed, there are big problems that are nagging and will not easily go away. There are headwinds and loud noises. You hear and feel them. But do not lose your focus. Do not be drawn into the vortex of a nagging single issue and forget the context of a system.
Systems blindness blurs focus, and infuses uninformed blame and irrational actions.
Focus on what matters. Indeed, you may have to change your lens. See the present squarely and read the big picture.
Reflect on the patterns and systems. Focus is like a muscle — the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. Learn to focus amidst the chaos.
Focus on what helps you unleash your greatness. Do not wait for perfect times. Just focus and keep moving.
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. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter