If wishes were horses beggars would ride; or so they say. Over time, I have learnt and come to accept how weak wishes are as far as accomplishment of any endeavor is concerned. Anyone including you, reading this article, has the capacity to make a wish. No one breaks a sweat for making a wish. Wishes therefore become the only accomplishments that unify humanity; unfortunately, the accomplishments are never tangible. How I wish it was possible to eat a wish meal, live in a wish house and sleep in a wish bed. To wish is therefore an ordinary thing because it can be accomplished by all ordinary people.
For anything to happen and tangible results to be felt, wishes must be converted to deliberate action. We dwell in a real world and not a wish world; we eat real food and not wish food; we dwell in real houses and not wish houses. Those who get to do great things in this world are those who transcend the normal level of performance and rise above mediocrity. Doing what everyone can and is doing is mediocre; only those who move beyond wishes get to feel reality.
It is important to acknowledge that whereas those around you and your entire environment have some bearing on your performance, such bearing is near negligible. Success does not just happen, it is caused to happen. You cause it to happen. The responsibility of converting your wishes into tangibles lies squarely on you before you get influenced by the environment. You have got to work for what you want, for it to happen. Unfortunately and unknowingly, most of us are enemies of our own selves. We keep wishing greatness and sit expecting some miracles to happen and deliver to us our wishes in their actualized state. Our laxity and inaction is the height of our enmity towards ourselves.
If you haven’t started that business that sits in your mind, it is your problem; if your business has stagnated because you have not implemented the plan in your mind, it’s your problem; if you have worked in the same position for ages, it’s not your boss or colleagues who are to blame but you. Chances are that your marriage is hitting the rocks because you have allowed it to run on auto pilot. Do not be in a hurry to blame others; you are your own enemy. It is a tough reality to concede but it remains to be so. Your performance today is directly proportionate to the deliberate effort you have invested in whatever it is you are doing.
I am reminded of a story I read and which I like giving when speaking about this. One morning, all the employees in a factory got to work and saw a notice written on the notice board: “Yesterday, the person who had been hindering your promotion in this company passed away. You are invited to join in the funeral.” Who could it be? They were sad for the death of one of their colleagues. Afterwards, one-by-one they gathered at the grave side, mainly, to know who exactly the man was. ‘Well, at least the man who had been delaying my progress is dead now and I will be able to progress’. These and many more were their thoughts.
One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin but when they looked inside it they were speechless. They stood, shocked, in silence for what they saw. There was a mirror inside the coffin and everyone who looked inside could only see him/herself reflected in the mirror. There was a sign next to the mirror that read: “There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your progress…It is YOU – your SELF. You are the only force who could influence your happiness, success and realizations”
Your life does not change when your boss, friend or company changes; your life changes when YOU change… You go beyond your limiting beliefs as you realize that YOU are the major determining factor of your life. Do not be your own enemy by embracing laziness and shying away from action. You are the main actor of your life play. Do not just wish, take action; if you want it done well in your life, you’ve got to do it yourself! Guess what…..YOU CAN DO BETTER!
Roy Okonji
Motivational Speaker and Author
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