That thing you want so badly, that thing you pray for, that thing that keeps you awake some nights. The very thing that pushes you to keep going, even when you’re faced with discouraging vibes. It could be a certain net worth, a particular position in your career, it could be a certain profit margin in your business, an amazing relationship, a healthy and beautiful family-whatever you identify as success. We may have different definitions of what success is but what we do have in common is that we all want to be successful at something if not at life in general. Why is it then that we do not all live to attain our desired level of success? Is it that others are just luckier than the rest? Absolutely not, and this week on The Garden we share with you how you can guarantee that you get it.
A famous quote says “You get what you focus on, so focus on what you want.” It is not easy to focus or to be consistent and keep focus on this journey called life because we are often faced with a lot of distractions. Therefore it makes it a little bit difficult to keep your focus on your desired outcome instead, what happens is that we tend to then focus on our distractions. Our distractions could be that rent we still owe, the child’s school fees for the rest of the academic year, that loved one who is ill, our shortcomings etc. However, one of the most dangerous destructions that could even be fatal to dreams is comparison-when we start to focus on what others are doing and what they are achieving in comparison to what we are doing and achieving or lacking. As challenging as it sounds to focus, it is not impossible to do. You see, success is not an idea, a fantasy neither is it magic. It is an existing concept, it is feasible and it has been proven but it requires focus.
What is focus? Focus is an act of concentrating interest or activity on something, to pay particular attention to something. In other words to emphasise, accent or prioritise something- for instance “the focus of The Garden is to help people find solutions.”
Getting what you want begins with your mind, you cannot successfully execute greatness with wrong thinking, you need to start thinking right-work on your mind set. A famous quote says “be careful what you think, your thoughts run your life” Now, can you imagine what happens to us when we are constantly focusing on bad things and all our problems? No wonder most of us live such stressful, bitter and unaccomplished lives-it is because of the kind of thoughts we have which have ruined our lives. Then again, imagine what could happen if we actually focused on good things, positive things, our dreams as opposed to our fears and insecurities? Imagine the good health we will enjoy and more over the fulfilment of achieving our set targets and thus obtaining success?
Then there are myths such as “Successful people are a whole other class of people, that they must be smarter than the rest of us. Stronger. Luckier. Better?” What if I put it to you that successful people are just like you and that at one point, each of the fabulously wealthy people in this world struggled through challenges and issues much the same as those you’re facing? I would suggest you get to understand how they broke through, beat the odds and grew their fortunes into billions or built healthy & happy relationships.
The thing with us is that we are always looking for a quick fix and while it sometimes does get us results, they will not stand because anything built in a haste will blow at any event of pressure. We need to therefore learn to be patient and trust the process. We must also understand that getting what we want is not a destination, we will need to continually be improving ourselves. It is important to admit to yourself that you will not always get it right and equally important to always remember to never give up when you find yourself in those moments. The vision/focus is yet for an appointed time…and it won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It will not delay -Habakkuk 2:3.
I am reminded of some time ago in my life in my quest for seeking solutions I wanted to search and find out what the secret to success was. However, what I stumbled upon was not really what I had expected, even so it altered my perception and when my thinking began to change, my life began to transform. In conclusion I share with you this profound response to the famous question “ how to be successful” by Warren Buffett -an American business magnate, investor and speaker.
1. Try
2. Try again
3. Try once more
4. Try it a little differently
5. Try it again tomorrow
6. Try and ask for help
7. Try to find someone who’s done it
8. Try to determine what is not working
9. Try to determine what is working
10. Just keep trying
I bet you weren’t expecting that? Well, in essence never give up, keep trying because in the end it all boils down to how bad you want it!
By Lerato Charlotte Letsoso | Email: leratokayise@gmail.com
