Have you ever come across a person, who produces masterwork, and world-class performance by doing things that they dislike? The truth of the matter is that one achieves success by doing things that one is good at and passionate about. Success is a result of the uncommon application of common knowledge. One acquires knowledge innately and by learning from others, who have gone through the venture before. A Chinese proverb said it better than I could, “to know the road ahead, ask those who have gone on it before”.
It takes a long time to learn everything by yourself. Communities we live in, companies we work for and with, praying houses we visit for salvation, schools we enroll in, political parties and social clubs we belong to, have some people who are ahead of us - who are more knowledgeable and have been in the field longer than us. Seek them out. Learn from them. One idea you learn from them can save you several years of effort you put in to achieve your goal and reach greatness. Learning from people with proven experience allows us to navigate and solve problems, which we would have a hard time doing on our own. Knowledgeable people help us to see opportunities, which we would have missed if we worked on our own (trust me on this one).
Talking about hidden potential and opportunities. There is a story that is told about an antiquated violin. Some time ago, an auction once took a new dimension due to a strange incident that happened. Many people gathered in a big hall for a special auction. The auctioneer picked up a dirty rickety looking violin as the first item to be auctioned. He started his offer as low as $200. But, instead of bidding for higher prices, people started pricing it down. $100, shouted one bidder. $50, shouted the other. $20, a third bidder shouted. The next bidder pegged the violin at $10. The drama continued until an elderly man in the crowd stood up and walked toward the stage where the violin was placed, priced at $10 price. He collected the violin, dusted it off, adjusted it, tuned it, and played a little. Unsatisfied, he re-adjusted and tuned it again. A few minutes later, he began to play the violin. Beautiful bewitching sounds filled the hall. Everyone in the hall was amazed at the potential of the violin. When he was through, he placed the violin on its stage and walked back to his seat at the back of the hall without saying a word. Now, when the auctioneer picked the violin, he started afresh from $2,000. That same day, the violin was sold for $75,000.
There is a big lesson behind the story. An important lesson. What made the violin be offered at $10 and sold at $75,000? What made the difference was the touch and work of the elderly man to change a few things and reveal the violin’s true potential. For all to see. You and I are like a dirty violin. We are incomplete. You and I are unfinished products. By nature. We have some potential hidden within us, which needs to be revealed - which needs to be re-touched. We need other people with certain expertise to refine us. Re-tune us. Re-adjust us. To re-calibrate our mindset. Unearth our potential so that we become complete and individuals of merit. Unfortunately, people with proven experience are rare species. Difficult to find. Not available in large numbers. Grandmasters and virtuosos are very much like eagles. They don’t flock. You find them, one at a time.
Oprah Winfrey has an interesting story on how we get inspired by, influenced by, and learn from people, who have traveled the journey before us. In her book, Oprah Winfrey Speaks, Oprah attributes her success, among other sources, to her primary teachers. She writes, “for every one of us who succeeds, it is because there’s somebody there to show us the way out. The light does not necessarily have to be in your family; for me, it comes from teachers and school.” Before she established her famous television talk show, Oprah worked as a primary teacher - in fourth grade. What’s interesting about her account is that she didn’t find herself teaching by accident. She was inspired by - and followed the footsteps of - her mentor, who was also a fourth-grade teacher. Indeed, to know the road ahead, ask those who have gone on it before. We become, whom we associate with. Having been a student and teacher herself, Oprah looked back and guided a group of women students in a talk show. She advised them aptly; “If you can’t speak correctly, if you can’t read or do mathematics, if you drop out of school, you will never have a Cadillac. I guarantee it. And if you get Ds or Fs on your school report card, you are out of this group. Don’t tell me you want to do great things with your life if you carry a radio to school.” Wise words. There can be no better advice, for students, from a former student and former primary school teacher than this. You got to pitch up and play your game well by paying attention to the counsel of people who have traveled the journey you are on - those that have proven experience and have made big in their field. Models. Coaches. Mentors. Mwalimus. Maharajas. All help us to learn and grow.
Want to know more about running a business? Network with top executives, who are already playing at the top of their game. If you want to be a business owner, apprentice with successful entrepreneurs. If you plan to be a lecturer, talk to distinguished professors. Do you nurse the ambition of flying an airplane? Find and talk to a pilot. Do you harbor ambitions to author a book, look for and talk to prominent authors? Ask them questions about how they got started, challenges they met along the way, and how they navigated their way through problems. Learn all they know. Take their guidance. Adopt their ideas. Put into action everything you learn from your models. If you can’t meet them in person, find out if they have written or published some materials in the field. Read books. Watch DVDs. Listen to CDs. Attend seminars. Search for and read business magazines that cut across all professions. I recommend Harvard Business Review. You must understand and accept that sometimes your role models or mentors may be people you are related to, such as parents or a sibling. They do not necessarily have to be someone you work with. They can be any person with indubitable experience in a field that you are interested in. At other times, it may be someone you have not met or seen before, but read about in books, magazines or watched on international television, such as Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, Trevor Noah, Jack Ma (charismatic co-founder of Alibaba), Richard Brownson, late Joseph Magufuli (former president of Tanzania), Madam Johnson Sirleaf, Mo Ibrahim, T. D. Jakes, Floyd Mayweather,... The list is long. Pay attention to what they say or have said or published in the past. Learn the things that they consider to be vital in attaining success and achieving high performance. What tools and strategies have they used to move from where they were to where they are? Use such people as living beacons for your inspiration.
Elders teach us that knowledge without action is useless. “Ideation without execution is utter delusion,” asserted Robin Sharma. Put into action what you have learned from your role models at the earliest opportunity. Make it a habit to seek the counsel of people with evaluated experience whenever you are venturing into a new project or new career or any new area of interest. Are you planning to move to another country? I strongly recommend you talk to people who have stayed in the country you are moving to and read up and learn about various fundamentals of the country such as culture, politics, availability of schools for children, language, weather, and cost of living. Associating with, reading about, and listening to people who have been or are in your area of interest, will assist you in taking note of potential problems and opportunities that lie ahead of you. You shall enter a new field or country with confidence. You become clear about the dos and don’ts of a profession, what to do or not to do in a new country. Before you seek direction, do some homework. Prepare yourself. Conduct self-analysis. What is it that you really want in life? Do you have what it takes to hit your goal or goals? You may have skills and resources, but not know the terrain. Be prepared to give up something to go up. Are you prepared to pay the price to be where you want to be, have what you want to have, or do what you want to do? The price may be time, financial resources, or sacrificed opportunity. When you are ready to pay the price, do not procrastinate. Set the ball rolling. The longer you wait to do something that you should be doing now, the greater the probability that you will not do it at all. Make a move. Talk to someone. Today. To know the road ahead, ask people who are coming back.
Lester Chinyang’anya ǀ General Manager - Operations ǀ Minet Malawi
Comments
Post a Comment