In life we usually receive according to the level of our capacity. If we receive more than our capacity can hold, we end up even losing what we have. It’s like pouring 20 litres of water into a 2-litre-container and expecting all of it to fit into that one container. Another good example is of people who have won a lottery, but did not have the aptitude to hold a windfall, the money was lost and they retrogressed to their original state. Why, because their standard was still that of a broke person who has got a million dollars, broke in the mindset, but having cash in hand. Strive to be mentally wealthy and you won’t have a problem holding material wealth.
Success life with Jonah Nyoni
Success is about raising the standard of your life. Success is never an accident or incident it is a process. The standard that you set, determines the calibre of people you attract in your life.
Have you realised that, naturally people have classified themselves, even when no one has done so? The affluent befriend the affluent and the opposite is true. As soon as you raise the standard you attract people in that standard.
I still remember when I was at school rich-poor classifications where formed naturally. Children from the rich families would stick together and those from poor families, there is something that seemed to bring them together.
A common thing just made it easy for them to relate. Why? A standard in life attracts a specific standard. What you attract in your life, is determined by a standard you have set for your life and most importantly in your mind. The good news is that your standard can change right away as soon as you set your mind to that.
Place a higher demand on yourself
Work hard and smart. Unpleasant situations might be happening round us, but the most important factor is what happens “in us”. These days if you listen at how people speak about the situation in Zimbabwe and the upcoming bond notes, they are distressed and some are thinking that something is going to give. Be a winner inside. In 2008 when there was a global financial crunch, some people made profits. Why? Because their internal standard was set high!
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Place a higher demand on your life. Be harder on yourself and life will be easier. This helps you when worst times come. The current book I am reading by Tony Robbins, Money-Master the Game says, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain. It’s about removing the fear in this area of your life so you can focus on what matters most”.
To succeed in hard times, we have to improve in three foundational things: the skill set, mind set and emotional stamina. Most physical structures have fallen not because the structure was poorly built, but because the foundation had no capacity to hold the physical structure.
Commit to be better than yesterday
What we go through might be painful, but what is necessary is what we become in the process. Don’t sit on your laurels. Most people are basking in the success of yesterday and they have not done something for today. The world is changing fast. You must constantly look for means and methods to better your yesterday by doing something worthwhile today.
Secondly, some people are stuck in the past that they can’t repair. The frank truth is that you can’t go in the past and correct it. It’s done and gone! Forget it and forge better ways into the future.
Thirdly, break set limitations. Mental limitations cause us not to break into higher dimensions. Raise your belief
Roger Bannister ran a mile in four minutes something that could not be done before 1954. This was a barrier that was not broken in the past. After that more people began to run a mile in less than a minute because the psychological barriers had been removed.
Experts from the scientific, metical and athletic world where convinced that no one could run a mile in a minute, but Roger believed in his mind. Raising our belief system makes us reach higher standards in life.
The late billionaire Paul J. Meyer once said, “What you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon…must inevitably come to pass!”
How do you become better than yesterday? Talk yourself to the top. See yourself a giant in the industry that you want to excel in. Hold higher thoughts of who you are. Most people are never undermined by others, but they look down upon themselves. See more from yourself and in yourself.
Remove energy drainers
If you want to go up, you must eliminate all energy drainers along the way. List all energy drainers and create a way of overcoming them. Eliminate people that drain your energy and replace them with people that make you accountable, responsible help you accomplish your dream.
Sacrifice the more
Life is about giving yourself out. Sacrifice more than anyone else. Sacrifice your time to become the best. Spend your time improving yourself. It might not be nice to read a book while others are burning and burying their time away watching television. I have said that work hard on yourself now. Those who love television might laugh at you now, but to their surprise they will end up watching you on their television sets. Delayed gratification might see you not enjoying what other people are enjoying now, but later in life, you will enjoy what they are enjoying now and even more.
Improve your self-talk
We do most of the communication to ourselves. Shad Helmstetter (1982:72) in his book What To Say When You Talk To Your Self writes, “Self-Talk is a way to override our past negative programming by erasing or replacing it with conscious, positive new directions”.
Helmstatter points five levels of self-talk and these are: (a) negative acceptance, (b) recognition and the need to change, (c) decision to change, (d) the better you and (e) universal affirmation.
Level one is characterised by words such as “I can’t…/if only I could..,” The second level recognises and admits the need to change. The third level as Helmstatter says, it “..is the first level of self-talk that works for you instead of against you. In this level you recognise the need to change, but also you make the decision to do something about it — and you state the decision in the present tense— as though the change has already taken place.
This is seen in the use of words such as “I no longer smoke…/I never do drugs…”
In level four you paint or say the completed new picture of yourself and replace the negative self-talk in level one. Level five is used mainly in church or religious circles as affirmations.
“This level of self-talk speaks of a unity of spirit, a divine an timeless cosmic affinity which transcends all worldly things and gives meaning to our being”.
Of all the levels, learn level three to five and unlearn level one and two.
Learn to lead
Leadership is not only holding a position in a company or a title, but the influence you have in your own field in the service you offer to the world. In my forthcoming book Transformative Leadership I say: “Leadership is the influence and motivation or drive to exploit individual latent abilities, improve one’s surroundings, fulfil obligations, purpose and the passion to help other people live their best lives. It is being active and impactful on the forefront of development.
“This development could be individually, intellectually, ideologically, and institutionally realised, and it may transcend the life span of that leader. True leadership offers hope, help, insight, foresight, and intuition through pioneering, modelling, mentoring, modifying, monitoring, motivating, mind development and influencing.”
Raise your standard to become a leader in your field. Be an expert, a guru and an elite performer. Master your craft. Have big goals and dreams.
Parting Point: The highest and best standard to live by is living your purpose and acknowledging that you are endowed with seeds of greatness. In all of us God deposited the power to be great. Don’t live below your true measure of greatness. When God was creating a human being the Bible says, “And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power] and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Genesis 1: 28, Amplified Bible)
•Jonah Nyoni is an author, success coach, leadership trainer and public relations consultant. Tel: 0772 581 918. Email: [email protected]
