The Sunday News
Itai Chipunza
EVERy human being is limited by their abilities, their way of thinking, the money they have, the people they know and the time they have on earth. Regardless of who you are, these few things bind you to your current state of life — ability, mind, money, people and time.
If you desire to move from where you are to somewhere different you have to alter one of these or even better, alter all of them. In a short space of time, you will find yourself in a different setting of life. For example think of your current job. You are doing it because it is within your abilities, your mind can understand it, or at least it should be able to understand it, you somehow could afford to be doing it by paying school fees and all other financial implications to be in that position and you knew someone that influenced you to that or helped you get that job.
Lastly, time, you made time to study and understand it and most importantly God allowed you to be alive to do it. Since we have said to move from it, you must change at least one of these, let’s assume you change the first thing on the list, your abilities.
If today you obtained a new skill, then it means you have more options in terms of what to do for a living. This then directly means you can easily move to another job if that skill you obtained has someone willing to pay for it.
Or alternatively you change the second one, your way of thinking. You are then open to more things you could do to your current environment to make it better for you. Changing your way of thinking is by far the most effective way to change everything about you because everything around you resembles the sum total of the way you think.
So your abilities are that way because of the way you think, the money you have in your bank account or under the pillow is a direct result of the way you think, the people you ascociate with are influenced by the way you think, how you use the limited time you have on earth is influenced by the way you think. So if you are going to change anything in your life, change the way you think for the better and the other ones become a walk in the park.
Now that we understand that all of us have the same limitations, the next question I would wonder is, why then do some people seem not to have these limitations judging by the way they achieve things?
Some people seem to glide through life challenges and pose as immune to what normally gives others sleepless nights. They seem to have 30 hours in a day. The first thing to do in order to be such a person is to develop the mind. In all of history there has been one unfailing method to stimulate growth and development of the mind, reading.
Yes, the good old fashioned way is reading. Read widely. Read as much as you can on a lot of subjects. It will be very long before your mind is fully saturated with information such that you cannot take in more. To put it in a way a modern person would understand, reading is like updating your software. You become a better version of yourself.
Generally the African man will only read to pass an exam. Most Africans will not even read their contract of employment. Just as a test, when did you last read a book? Did you read the contract you signed at your place of employment? Of couse like in everything, there are exceptions. There are Africans who read widely. The few that read are normally forced to follow by the many ignorant ones. So, the knowledge the readers have does not improve our cities. Read widely, your mind will grow, your mind is a tool that you must spend time sharpening because you use it all the time.
Everyday things are influenced by the mind. Tiny details of your life are dictated by your mind, the choice of groceries you buy, the choice of words when you speak, the cologne you put on, all this is processed in your mind. Your mind is at work non-stop. It is wise to develop your mind to the best it possibly can, after all. You are the main beneficiary.
The second thing very highly productive people and high achievers have noticed is that they are limited.
The consciousness that you have limitations is a powerful tool. If you know you have limitations, then you are forced to look outside yourself for some things. For example, I’m not an accountant. I have basic knowledge of accounting to read bank statements, profit and loss, balance sheets and a few other daily things, but I’m not an accounting intellect.
The fact that I know my inability to produce complex accounting documentation gives me the ability to see that in business I need an accountant. If I tried to do the business accounting myself in the name of saving money, I’d actually end up paying more because of the mistakes that would be in the work I’d do.
Highly productive people muiltply themselves through others. President Jacob Zuma was not a very intelligent man, the man couldn’t even read a six digit number on a piece of paper. But he ran one of the biggest economies in Africa for more than nine years. Some may argue that his time in office was the worst for South Africa, but the point is, he stayed in office.
Do not for one minute think he was doing any of the business analysis and political strategy. All he did was employ people that are good at what they do. The man would sit in a room with very intelligent people and specialists in particular fields and they would feed him information.
They would not come in throwing big words and their field jargon, no. they would simplify it for him. All Zuma had was charisma to convince people to vote for him. Character was his strength. After they voted him into power, all he needed was people who knew what he didn’t, and the job was done.
Add people with special gifts to your circle, you will be shocked at how powerful you become almost effortlessly because their gifts are at work. Learn how to keep these people around you, in turn they will keep order around your empire. Stay ahead of the game and never give up, you are a very important part in the plan of God for the world.
Facebook — Itai Chapunza
