Winning in the marketplace takes more than meets the eye. Success in business and leadership is governed by laws. SUCCESS LIFE JONAH NYONI
Breaking the law has results. In this case, if you break a success law, you will not be arrested, but they are negative repercussions. For the past decade I have invested in myself more than I have done on all other things. I have learnt that to win I have to learn more about myself and improve.
I have learnt that most things I get in life, are hinged mainly on me. Poetically, I have since discoverd that I have to examine me! I have to talk to me! I have to discipline me! I have to control me! I have to love me! I have to brand me! I have to enthuse and infuse positivity into no one, but me! I have to rebuke me! I have to correct me!
I have to empower me! I have to train me! I have to inspire me! I have to feed me!
Most people fail on their own before they can even fail in the marketplace. The success principle I am tackling today is called the mirror principle.
The use of the mirror is to see yourself. If ever there is something not right, you spruce yourself. The guy you have to blame or praise for who you are, is no one but yourself! The guy you see in the mirror might have caused most of the problems you have encountered than anyone else has done.
The mirror principle scrutinises you. Who has to examine you? It’s you. You are a sum total of your thoughts. It is not what happens to us that is a problem, but what happens in you. So if you change the way you see yourself, it changes your results in life. Your mind pattern is one thing you must work on; your paradigm.
Your paradigm is a mental programme that has control over your behaviour. Who you are determines the way you see other people, what you see, how you see others, how you see the future, how you treat the past, what you do and the behaviours you flaunt. To work on yourself, start now. Here are the things to do:
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●Discover yourself There is a prominent question that I am asked in almost every seminar I host. The question is: How do I discover what I am supposed to be doing with my life? Some put it in this way: How do I know my career? Others phrase it like this: What do I do to become fulfilled? Those three questions bounce back to self-discovery. Don’t ever waste time doing what you were never created for. To discover the purpose of anything, you have to ask the manufacturer. He or she has the full knowledge of the functions. Arthur Marara, an author, speaker and attorney, in his book Personal Development Toolkit (2013: 53), says: “You start to live the moment you discover what you are supposed to be living for. A great number of people pass through earth without knowing who they are and what they are capable of doing.”
●Self-concept
Do you know that most people negatively judge themselves before even other people grade them? The issue of self-concept describes how you view yourself. This determines your attitude, behaviour and ultimately your results in life. Inferiority complex makes you see yourself lesser in value than others whereas confidence exudes an aura of self-worth.
●Self-awareness This is the ability to see yourself different and uniquely special in your own way. Most people, because of low self-worth, want to be other people. They want to dress the way other people dress. They emulate other people. Others dress in extremes, so as to try to express themselves and be seen.
●Self-image Your image defines your brand and what you stand for. This emanates from what you believe about yourself and your value systems. The image is what other buy into. Let me give you an example. If you fry two pieces of chicken in the pan then take one piece and wrap it in an old newspaper and try to serve it. Then take the other one and wrap it in a proper good way. Which one do you think people will go for? It’s obvious. Both pieces are good, but the packaging is different. So it is with people, what they see first is the packaging than the interior. Work on your image.
●Self-belief Self-belief is about what you believe about your-self. Some people believe they are rich even, way before they can attain material wealth whereas others have deemed themselves unable, incapable, weak and useless. Belief systems are created by a number of issues that include our past experiences, what we a have learnt in life and our surroundings. Positive self–belief can be shaped by an individual or through influence.
●Self-honesty This in an issue of integrity. You have to be honest with yourself first. Honestly, if you would choose a life you want to live the rest of your life, what will you be doing now? If you are to drop negative attitudes, habits or traits, what will you drop? Be true to self and enjoy. Never try to please anyone because that is similar to living a lie.
●Self-responsibility Live your own life and make it work. Some people will spend their lives thinking that there is someone who is responsible for who they are. They blame the politics of the day. They think it’s the economy. They think it’s their parents et cetera. Be responsible for your own success. Take a personal and conscious effort to make life worth living for. After all, if you don’t do anything about your life, no one else will.
●Self-improvement The last issue — that of self-development — can’t be replaced by anything. Improve your mind, associates and your life. If your stop growing you start to die slowly. You are paid to the level of your worth. So to improve your worth, you have to improve yourself. Above that, the Bible says: Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore, get wisdom and in all your getting, get understanding (Proverbs 4: 7).
●Jonah Nyoni is an author, success coach, leadership trainer and public relations consultant. Tel: 0772 581 918. Email: [email protected]
