These days, ask anyone and they’ll all tell you that they want to be great and greatness is in their veins. Motivational speakers do their part by chanting across all social media platforms that everyone can be great. Pastors also assure church members that they are born for nothing but greatness and a lot of people will believe because they have faith and while faith it a good thing, it doesn’t stop you from working hard and smart on your dreams. The truth of the matter is everyone will not be great. Some people or quite a lot of people will die ordinary just the way they don’t want to. Why? There is no elevator or jet to greatness. I’m sorry, you have to use the stairs. But some people, before they climb up three floors, they are exhausted, they conclude that this stair climbing is not for them. Maybe they are having arthritis.
Everyone cannot and will not be great because even though everyone knows the rules and the process, they still want to jump the queue and just appear in front. It may happen for some people, maybe people who win lotteries, depending on what your definition of greatness is. Those people who win lotteries, after a couple of months or years usually have nothing to show for it. They jumped a necessary process and the process comes to hunt them later.
Most often, people define greatness as fame and money. This will lead them to doing a lot of stuff that they would ordinarily not do. This definition of greatness is largely misleading and has ended many people being frustrated than they actually were. Greatness has nothing to do with fame. Fame is a by-product of greatness. You have to be great to become famous, not the other way around. The aim of greatness isn’t fame. It is just being better in an area of life than can be said of other people. Or it is finding a means to solve man’s problems.
Greatness stems from being outstanding and if you are outstanding at something with no value, you will easily fade out the way you came. Take a look at all the great men in the history of life, they never started out wanting to be rich and famous, even though they may have wanted to make a coin or two. But they started out mainly with the idea of wanting to be different with something or doing something that will change the life of man or just plain being excellent at what they do. That is why someone can easily point at someone else and say, “He is a great guy”. That great guy may not be rich and famous but someone still refers to him as a great guy anyways. He probably just always smiles at everyone in the morning and says hi. Or he is a peace maker or he is a generous person or he just has an attribute that can be hard for other people. Until we start to change our values and definitions as relating to greatness, we may never be satisfied at the level of greatness we have achieved.
This article is meant for people who understand that greatness is worked for over a long period of time and are ready to go down that road full of uncertainties. There are seven things that are important in the journey to greatness:
1. Greatness is a journey, not a destination: This says it all. You will hardly see an article or a book about the destination of greatness. But you will see a ton of books that talk about the journey to greatness. Why? This is simply because the journey is more important that the destination and if we look at it carefully, greatness has no destination. You just keep going. Do not fix your eyes on the destination because that way, when it seems like you are not getting there, you begin to get discouraged. As you go, enjoy the journey. Enjoy every step you take. Celebrate your small wins and take lessons from your failures. But we all know all this, don’t we? Of course, we do. We have read it a bazillion times in books and have heard people talk about it. So why don’t this consciousness fill our minds? Because we cannot fathom how greatness is ‘just’ a journey. I’m sorry, but that is just the way it is. Simple things, they say, are often the hardest to understand.
2. Greatness starts with a desire. Like I said above, great men today started out as men who just wanted to make a difference. Instead of getting yourself spent over trying to be ‘great’, you should direct that energy into being better than you are right now. Let your drive be becoming a better you or making a valuable difference. Do not run after fame or things with bad values. Trying to be famous is draining. It seeps your energy but you would not believe this. Why? Because all you see when you see celebrities is the glory they come with. You have no idea the demons they fight each day. Demons of keeping up with trends and living a life daily for people to appreciate them. But after reading this, you think you do not mind fighting those demons. When those times and thoughts come, remind yourself that you are great in your own right.
3. Do something about your desire. When you desire to be a better you or desire to make a difference, desire is not enough. Start working. Dreams do come true. Desires are met but only for those who would do what is required of them. Things get rarely offered to people on a platter of gold, except of course, you’re born into a wealthy family. You have to work. You have to organize your desires, goals and plans so that they reflect where you are going. Do something every day that leads you to your goal.
4. Refusing to give up. When you start out, remember that ‘nearly cannot kill a bird’. Nobody will know if you ‘almost’ got there. You have to actually get there for people to know. Know that life is full of highs and lows and ups and downs and it is life’s job to throw them at you. It is therefore your job to manage them. Doesn’t matter if you’re scarred in the process. Be prepared for scars. Work on your dreams, fight all you want but never give up.
5. Keep your goal in firm focus. It is one thing to have a goal, it is another to be focused on that goal. When your focus is divided, you cannot be great. Find something that you want to excel at and stay there. Don’t make a habit of always shifting focus because it feels good or because things do not seem to be working out.
6. Understand yourself. According to Socrates, “Man, know thyself”. One of the most popular sayings in all of history because it has proven effective. We are humans and have our differences and the ways things work for us are also different. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses. Knowing yourself is the first key to maximum productivity and effectiveness and if you’re ever going to be great, you must first know what works for you and what doesn’t.
7. Let your goals be SMART
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Reasonable
- Time-bound.