Not all change is improvement but without change there can be no improvement. Instead of trying to change the whole world each of us must focus on our spheres of influence and bring change and soundness there. When we wait for other people to change before we can progress is simply surrendering our lives to fate and choosing to think and behave like victims.

Above the clouds the sun is always shining
Even in the darkest clouds of despair we must never forget that the sun is still shining. There is somewhere where there is hope. Hope and despair are mere interpretations but never reality. In times when we think there is lack and things are tough, we must never forget that this does not mean that everybody in the world is suffering. We must never generalise our suffering into a national, regional or international trend.

Somebody’s funeral does not make the whole world stop functioning. In times when we think things are really bad, somebody is having the greatest time of his life. The difference comes from the way that we interpret what happens to us and our attitudes. While people think Africa is a land of suffering and poverty, Tiny Roland of the Lonrho fame was interviewed at one time and quoted saying, “Africa has been good to me!” If Africa could be good to Tiny Roland– Africa can be good to Africans.

Especially given that he landed in the then Rhodesia with a cookery certificate and left a billionaire. Whether Africa will be good to us or not, it depends on us. Each of us must take personal responsibility. Nothing great ever happens by chance.

Handouts do not solve problems permanently
The blight on Africa is people are always queuing for handouts and donations. No person can ever get a donor-carpet to greatness. The lift towards greatness is not working and we all have to use the staircase. Some people think that all their problems will go away if they get all the money they desire. This is not true. It is just a myth. Money is never a substitute for basic problem solving skills and personal management. The reason why most people do not unleash their greatness is that they are set in habits and ways of doing things that are not productive.

It is time to take responsibility and pull our weight. We cannot be babies forever. If we have been thinking but not producing the results we want, then we need to think differently. Stupidity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. We need to face our problems and supply solutions. The key to your greatness is found in the problems that we choose to confront and solve. Those who solve little problems are rewarded little. If we find that we are stuck somewhere and our lives are in a limbo, we need to examine the problems that we are solving and what responsibility we are taking. The basis of entrepreneurship is solving people’s problems. Every business is an institution that is set up to solve some set of problems. Business starts to decline when an organisation is no longer solving relevant problems or it just exists for its own self-preservation and not to serve the customer.

The Amplified Bible in Ecclesiastes 11:4 says: “He who observes the wind [and waits for all conditions to be favourable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds shall not reap.” Perfect conditions can never exist in an imperfect world. It is time for positive action. We cannot wait for all the traffic lights to be green before we set off from home. In the same way, it is futile to wait for perfect circumstances before launching towards greatness. Things never change because we have great speeches, things change when we decide to take action. Conditions must find us already in execution mode. Nothing will ever change in life until an individual changes. Most of the time things do not really change but we change. This is because we do not usually see the world as it is but as we are.

To your greatness

Milton Kamwendo

Somebody once said that if you are ready to die for what you believe, you are not yet ready to live for it. You have not yet decided to succeed in your chosen calling if you do not have this type of determination. Whenever we put ourselves on the line we normally come through as winners. In the Bible, God never promised that things will be easy. He only promised that to him who believes all things are possible. A powerful belief is an unyielding conviction.

Be Focused
Every adversity is aimed at distracting you and breaking your focus on your mission. Choose always to remain focused. This will require your time and attention. Anything worth doing is worth your total focus. A lack of focus leads to uncommitted action.

Love the Sound of “No!”
Many a time in our journey to greatness we run into things that say “No!” it can’t be done or you cannot have it! Learn to love the sound of the word “no”. The word should stimulate in you a resolve to succeed. This two letter word should get our faith excited. Every time you hear the word “No!” you should celebrate because you will be closer to a “Yes!”

Refuse negative conditioning
People around us may be satisfied with mediocrity but we must refuse to adopt and legitimise their limitations, fears and doubts. Other people’s negative expectations should never become our expectations.

Think of the Reward
There is no reward for cowardice. In our personal and business lives we face many challenges. Focus on the reward. The Bible tells us that Jesus was able to endure the pain and suffering of the Cross because of the joy that was set before him beyond the cross. For your own goals visualise what your life will be after you attain your goals. Pre-play your future in your imagination. Use affirmations – short positive confessions of where you are going – to program yourself for success.

“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you are trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must – but don’t you quit!

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck to it out;
Don’t give up, though the pace seems slow-
You might succeed with another blow . . .

Success is failure turned inside out-
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt-
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you are hardest hit-
It’s when things get worse that you mustn’t quit!”
- Anonymous.

Take massive action to your greatness.

Milton Kamwendo

Africa does not need a cure for HIV/AIDS more than it needs a cure for Procrastination. It is a land of vast economic opportunity, but has been degraded by Dreaming Procrastinators, more than it has been by HIV/AIDS. For the sake of our economic future, let us fear dreaming without action, more than we fear HIV/AIDS, because the former is the cause of the latter. Those who procrastinate always give up on life, and resort to promiscuous lifestyles – HIV the benefactor.

Choose to take risk. Dare to be different. The sweetness of honey is in the smoky risk taken by the bee keeper. Dream Making is nothing more than acting upon your belief in your prosperous future. Each day, choose to take steps that will build a momentum for your dream to be realised.

To your greatness

Milton Kamwendo

Refuse to be a victim
It is easy to think like a victim and to always hope that someone somewhere will do things for us. I do not have any problems with donations; but I have a problem with people who base all their livelihood, future and destiny on the hope for a donation. All the people that I have met who have amassed great wealth were not just standing by some street corner hoping for some change to drop into their plate. It is true that we do not all set off in life with great advantage and privilege, but each of us has the capacity to transform his or her destiny by choosing not to think or behave like a victim. Victim thinking at any level and in any type of institution will never get us anywhere worth going.

Nothing changes until we do
We must be the change that we wish to see. Many of us are always hoping for change. We think that someone else must change first before our destiny can change. Abrogating the responsibility for the change in our circumstances to someone else is irresponsibility. We all usually know of someone we wish to change – it is usually our spouse, boss, minister, team-mate, company, regulator and a whole list. True change begins with the individual. Unless we change as individuals nothing will ever change. At times we think more money and more resources will change our lives. But nay, more money simply magnifies who we are at the core and amplifies the magnitude of our folly or wisdom. I have come to a permanent conclusion that the safest and easiest person to change is myself.

To your greatness!
Milton Kamwendo

At some point in our lives we have all come across the legendary stories of Hare and Tortoise. The two challenged each other to a marathon race, which was going to take several days to complete. For Hare the results of the competition were predictable. He just forgot that past success is not a guarantee for future success. The abilities that we are endowed with only become an advantage when we use them. On the appointed day a cheering crowd of the jungle saw the two off the starting line. As was expected, Hare took the early lead. He ran until he was confident that Tortoise, with his slow pace, would never catch up. So, he lost his momentum —he decided that it was now time to relax. Having run for the whole day he was so exhausted and burnt out and he decided to celebrate his achievements. He treated himself to a heavy meal and took generous quantities of his favourite beverage and then sat under a big tree and slept.

Meanwhile tortoise knew that success is a long and winding journey and not a sprint. He paced himself for the long haul and preserved his momentum. He knew that he had to remain focused and to believe in himself. He stayed on his course, day and night. Kilometre after another he ran on wondering if his opponent Hare had already crossed the line. He remembered that in life it is important for one to always run in his or her lane. This thought liberated him from competition against Hare as it gave him unnecessary stress and made Hare his ceiling. He focused on exploiting his total potential. In essence he realised that the best way to keep moving forward was to stick his head out and to put a fire underneath him. It is not how fast we run in life that matters but how focused and diligent we remain.

Having treated himself to a mid-term celebration, Hare slept for several days. He was sure that the slow and dawdling tortoise would never be his match when it came to athletics. The biggest mistake we can ever do is to underestimate other people’s potential. When he finally woke up he realised that he had a little hangover but this was nothing big given that he had outclassed his opponent already — so he thought. He got back into the race but this time he was not as focused as he had been before. He was confident that he had already won and all that he was left to do was to show up at the finishing line and throw a big party for his clan. He just forgot that the price of greatness must be paid in full and in advance. Certainly it never crossed his mind that there is nothing like an overnight success. Success is a time intensive business. One has to delay one’s gratification and fight one’s way to the end.

Hare ran on and there was no Tortoise in sight and he thought that this race was just a fait accompli. Just as he rounded the bend to make his way towards the finishing line he heard some very loud cheers and wondered who could be cheering him at this stage. As he turned he saw Tortoise crossing the finishing line. He had been outclassed and Tortoise had won the race! From that day Hare learned never to lose momentum and never to underestimate the competition. To this day no Hare ever runs at a leisurely pace.

Tap Into Your Passion
Momentum is fed by passion. Passion is an important key to greatness. Passion cannot be created it can only be discovered. Each of us must find something that we are deeply passionate about. When we throw ourselves into the centre of our passion success becomes a mere function of time. Time, effort and resources are wasted in most organisations when we try to get people to become passionate about what they are not passionate about in the first place. Momentum is soon lost when we are trying to be that which we are not. Each of us needs to run in his or her lane. Greatness is not a game of impressions — it is a game of passion.

To your greatness!
Milton Kamwendo

Sometimes the pace seems so slow. There are times when my patience has been tested because I wanted it all to happen at once. We must never give up or stop trying simply because the progress is slow. We must never be afraid of moving slowly, but we must fear standing still. Let us never forget that the race of greatness is not a 100 metre sprint – it is a marathon. Becoming an overnight success means we have to endure the cold, long night.

Sometimes we will feel lonely and cold. This is natural too, but it does not mean that we should give up. Those that follow the crowd will never be followed by the crowd. When we do what everybody else is doing we are sure to get what everybody else is getting – mediocrity! The journey of greatness will always take us to lonely places, it will see us knocking on strange doors, it will make us pass through foreign territory and will make us read what others are not reading and eat what others will never eat. Greatness will always make demands on us and challenge our potential. Whatever we do – quitting must be the last option. When we have found our purpose and our place we must stick to the knitting. Even if we remain alone, at least let us take comfort in the fact that someone must remain switching off the lights.

Take massive action
We can never build a reputation on the basis of our good intentions. Taking personal responsibility is not manifested in the words that we speak but the actions that we take. The cure for fear is action. The panacea for excuses is action. The remedy for despondency is action. Nothing changes until someone takes action. It is better to take action and be wrong than to do nothing and feel saintly. The greatest risk we can ever take is to do nothing. Those who do no nothing will never become anything as well. All heroes in any endeavour are celebrated because of the actions that they took in spite of their circumstances. History is a record of actions taken and not just thoughts that were thought. Thought without action leads to delusion. What will change our lives is nothing more than consistent and focused action. Taking responsibility for our lives and our destiny starts by us refusing to be immobilised by any fear, emotion or thought. Our future begins when we take action. New things start when we take new action. Discoveries start when we action in new directions. Take massive action and then keep taking action.

To your greatness!
Milton Kamwendo

Greatness means financial success
While money is important to life it is not the only measure of success and greatness and it is not everything. Greatness is measured in terms of one’s potential and calling in life. Money that is not tied to purpose sometimes leads people to self-destruction. Success must be holistic. It is sad to succeed in one area of our lives yet have everything else suffer and waste in the process. Areas that are important to consider in our pursuit of greatness include family, spirituality, health, personal growth and development, social and recreational and wealth. The more rounded we are the more fulfilled we are likely to be. Greatness is not just about making a lot of money; it is about making a lot of living. In Mark 8:36, the Bible gives this sobering thought: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Life must be lived with eternity in mind.

Greatness is about being self-employed
It is true that there are some benefits in being self-employed. However, we are not all born to be entrepreneurs. Greatness is not all about owning or running a business. The important thing in life is to know oneself. Know where you thrive best and the seasons of your life. Even those who go on to do well in business usually have to serve for years in other people’s employment. The most important issue in greatness is productivity. Each of us must bloom where we are planted and seek to exploit the potential that is hidden within. One could either be an entrepreneur or an intrapreneur. The latter is somebody who is not just a corporate wheelbarrow that only goes as far as it is pushed. It is somebody who expresses an entrepreneurial flair within the context of an organization. The cry of most organizational leaders is that there are very few enterprising people within organizations. Being faithful to that which we do not own creates room for us to be owners in our own right. Many people give half-hearted attention to their jobs because they think their greatness is best expressed outside the job. This is a dangerous attitude because we always reap the seeds that we sow. Favour comes through performance. Greatness is not a result of just showing up but performing and delivering results wherever one happens to be.

It is too late for me to be great
We are never too old unless we think so. Age is just a number and we are the ones that give meaning and significance to that number. No one is ever too old to dream and dance with life. Youth is not a birth statistic but a quality of spirit and agility of mind. Our bodies may wrinkle but we must never allow age to creep into our thinking and corrode our attitudes. One is truly old when one can no longer dream and think beyond the present. We must never let popular opinions about age disenfranchise us from pursuing greatness. Life is meant to be lived and not died. Some people are so obsessed with dying that they forget to live in the present. The sad thing in life is that many people die before they actually do. To die while we live is to bury our potential and mortify our greatness.

I have to do many things to be great
The key to greatness is not doing too many things but it is focus. He who can never focus can never dream of winning. The battle of life is a battle to find a life focus and then to protect that focus. None of us can boost of having enough time or resources to excel at everything simultaneously. The trap that most of us fall into is to try and do too many things. Sometimes our focus is swayed because we are trying to fashion our lives into some popular opinion or fad. The best favour we can do for ourselves is to be true to ourselves and to what God has put in us. Greatness is everywhere — if we can just but define our purpose and focus. Jim Rohn emphasizes this idea when he says, “No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, whether it’s writing a book, climbing a mountain, or painting a house the key to achievement is your ability to break down the task into manageable pieces and knock them off one at one time. Focus on accomplishing what’s right in front of you at this moment. Ignore what’s off in the distance someplace. Substitute real-time positive thinking for negative future visualization. That’s the first all-important technique for bringing an end to procrastination”.

The current environment does not allow for greatness
Our beliefs determine our perception and our perception determines our reality. Whether we believe that are opportunities or not in the current environment is a matter of perception. The sad thing in Africa has been that we look for opportunities everywhere else except at home. The result is that other people come and launch their greatness using our resources, human and physical, while we are complaining, fighting and cursing. This is a time of unprecedented opportunity but the most important change we must make is in our mind-sets. So long as we think like slaves we will never see the opportunities for productivity and we will always be looking for new and fashionable chains to bond our potential to. It is not the environment that limits greatness but the lack of imagination, courage and will to succeed. Nothing in the world cannot be tamed by determined people that are willing to explore their environment and mine every opportunity they can find. Opportunities multiply as they are seized and they diminish as they are abused. Our focus should not be on our limitations but on our opportunities. Instead of feeding our doubts and complaints let us feed our faith, unleash our creativity and seize this moment of our lives. We will only pass this way once.

To your Greatness!
Milton Kamwendo

Each of us is born to fulfil a special purpose. We cannot create this purpose but we can discover it. Each of us is hardwired and shaped by God for our own special contribution in life. Climbing higher and faster up any ladder is not as important as having the ladder leaning against the right wall. Regardless of how fast we may speed if we are lost from our purpose we only increase our frustration.

I struggled for many years with the question of my purpose. Questions that helped me clarify and focus on my purpose include the following:
- What is it that gives me the greatest fulfilment?
- What would I be doing if money was not an issue?
- What work was I involved in when I felt the most useful?
- What would I like to be remembered for when I die?
- What have I always felt I would like to do with my life?
- What makes me feel the pleasure of God?

The challenge is that at times we are trying to impress everyone else and at times we end up being very funny clones. Each of us has a special contribution and place in this life. It is sad to live in the shadows of life when one can drink in the sunshine.

To your greatness!
Milton Kamwendo

Whoever does not value or respect your time will never respect your wisdom or contribution either. Time unfortunately cannot be stopped or stored; it can only be used or abused. Whether the passage of time will create more value and precious memories or misery and regret does not depend on the clock, it depends on the individual and his or her relationship with time. We can have, be or do whatever we make up our minds to do if we are willing to exchange our time for it.

“Time is in short supply ”
There are many times when I wish I could extend my day to 30 hours or my month to at least 50 days. Time, like money, is a scarce and highly perishable commodity. Because time is in short supply one has to invest in making his or her time pay the highest returns. Fortunately time has been there for as long as eternity and many people have found ways of using it well and this has led them to where they are.

When we are young, we can sleep all we want because there will always be time in the future. Most people sleep an average of 8 hours a day. This represents one third of the day and 2 ½ days of each week. For a person who will die at 50 years of age this represents nearly 20 years. For a person who will die at 80, this represents more than 25 years. To waste a third of our lifetime sleeping is not fair and justified if we fail to leave a legacy of greatness. It is therefore not suprising that in Proverbs 6:6-11, the Bible says, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. The highway to any form of lack is the abuse of time.

“It all starts with us”
Our attitudes towards time determine what our lives will become. The clock can never be managed, its job is to keep ticking and making its rounds. What we can best manage is ourselves. The heart of time management is the management of self. We have to start by looking at our own goals, priorities, plans and habits. If we aim at nothing we will always be sure to hit it 100% of the time. Our goals should therefore be well defined and clear and we must focus on those activities that give us the highest return on effort. Things that matter most in our lives must never be at the mercy of things that matter least. It is also important for us to focus on things that are important and not things that are just urgent. Blocking time in our calendars to have appointments with ourselves is as important as working. We need to create time and space to think and to plan.

To your greatness,

Milton Kamwendo

It is in setting them, then using them as a homing device for all our action and then pursuing them with massive resolve, enthusiasm and focus. That is why I prefer to call the exercise of setting and pursuing one’s goals until they are begging for mercy “goal getting”. Goal getting is the mother of all worthwhile achievements and the parent of all greatness. Real goals inspire action. If no action flows from our goals, it means we just had noble wishes. Wishes provide psychological comfort but they lack the resolve that characterises effective goals.

We were not created for mediocrity. The tragedy of life is that we are born originals but most of us die as bad off-colour copies and faint shadows of who we really were meant to be. Orison Swett Marden was right when he said: “Deep within man dwell those slumbering powers that would astonish him, that he never dreamed of possessing, forces that would revolutionise his life if aroused and put into action.”

Many people who are reading this article have done well in some key areas of their lives. However, from the perspective of our creator, what we would have achieved when we are at the peak of our success is only a tiny fraction of what we are capable of being. The tragedy in life is not that people pursue lofty grandiose goals but that they aim too low and hit. They therefore plateau too soon. To expire before our human shelf life is over is an unfortunate and miserable thing. This is why the great motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar said: “Man was designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.”

Goals are a Necessity
Having clear, written goals is critical for anyone who desires greatness in any arena. Goals are as necessary to the life of success as oxygen to normal human life. Without goals a human life loses meaning and becomes a mere existence. Life is not meant to be “died” but to be lived to the full. The purpose of life is a life of purpose. Goals are an expression of where we are going and what we are becoming. Our goals are simply previews of coming attractions in our lives. In the 22 Non-negotiable Laws of wellness, Greg Anderson says: “When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.” Anyone who sets out in life without knowing where he is going is likely to end up where he never dreamt of being. If we have no goals to make our lives and organisations better than the present we can expect that the future will not be any better.

Goals Inspire Achievement
Some research studies done a long while ago say that fewer than 5% set written goals and less than 1% achieve those goals. Anyone therefore who has written, specific goals that he or she is pursuing is in the elite 5% of achievers in the world. It may not look like now but in the short while to come, the results will start showing. Goals create a sense of focus that causes us to move with speed on the path of greatness. No one can get far in any journey of life by just taking an aimless lazy stroll. Goals make us achieve faster than we normally would. They are the catalyst of all greatness. The clearer our goals, the faster we move forward. Underlying any major achievement known to men are clear goals that are pursued relentlessly.

Having goals does not mean that there will be no challenges. It just means that the challenges will be easier to manage. Instead of the challenges becoming stumbling blocks they become stepping-stones. Instead of problems becoming impossibilities that become challenges to inspire our faith and creativity. A detour simply becomes a short delay not the end of the journey. People with goals can be delayed but they cannot be denied.

To your greatness

Milton Kamwendo