The Power of An Idea

The Power of An Idea: The Tom’s Shoes Story

Over one million Toms shoes have been given to children around the world as a result of one man’s idea. How did this happen? Blake Mycoskie, founder and ‘Chief Shoe Giver’ of Toms Shoes Incorporated, was on vacation in Argentina when he saw some people doing a volunteer work of giving shoes collected from wealthy families to children who needed shoes. He was touched by what he saw but he felt the idea was not sustainable because it depended on donations. His entrepreneurial background led him to start a full profit shoe business where every time he sells a pair of shoes, a pair can be given away to a child who is in need of shoes. Through this initiative, so many lives have been touched and so many families helped.

Blake told a story of a mother of three boys who was excited that her boys now had a pair of shoe each. What was touching about the story was the fact that the three boys had been sharing a single pair of shoes. That meant if the first boy went to school on Monday, he had to wait till Thursday to go to school again. So for each of them to have their own shoes must have meant the world to them and their family. That is how much the power of an idea can affect our world.

When Blake came up with his idea, he was laughed at. The idea was branded ridiculous but today the idea has become a smashing success that now enjoys the support of various mega corporations like Microsoft, AT&T, etc. One lesson to draw from Blake Mycoskie’s story is that ideas should not just be pondered upon but acted upon. Another lesson is that opposition and discouragement should not prevent you from pursuing your idea. Also, don’t quickly wave off that idea that drops in your mind. A single idea can change millions of lives forever.

Everything in life started as an idea: the airplane, the telephone, the Internet, the game of football, the television, the motor car, the submarine, space travel, the atomic bomb, etc. So before discarding that idea, you may want to reflect on it thoughtfully and decide if it’s workable or not. Do not underestimate the power of an idea. Changing a life begins with a single step.

YOU HAVE NO OPTION...RUN!

YOU HAVE NO OPTION…RUN!

In the jungle of Africa, the lion wakes up and thinks to itself that if it must find food, it must run faster than the gazelle while the gazelle thinks to itself that to survive the day, it must outrun the lion. There is a moral to this analogy and the moral is that to succeed in life, you cannot afford to stay in the same position. The lion will starve to death if it refuses to run after its prey.  The gazelle will also not survive the day, if it does not outrun its predator.

So what does this tell me? That if I must get anything out of life, I must make demands on life. If not, life will just hand to me whatever it likes. You don’t get what you deserve in life, you get what you demand. So make your demand. Go out there and run. The millions you desire to have, the fame you crave for, the impact you hope to make will not be possible if you stay in a spot wishing it will fall on your laps like ripe cherries.

If you must not be run over in life, just like the gazelle, you must run and even outrun your predators who are lurking around looking for the opportunity to pounce on you and devour you. Let me mention some of these predators: failure, disappointment, despondency, rejection, poverty, etc. If you don’t move from that spot you are in, then expect these predators to catch up with you and consume you. I sincerely believe that someone who is active can never be bogged down by feelings of disappointment or any other negative feeling for that matter.

Considering this analogy critically, it seems to me that everyone in life will at one time or the other find themselves in the position of either lion or gazelle. Whether you are a lion or gazelle, you are fighting for survival and there is only one option: to run. And you cannot just run languidly or leisurely, you must run with all seriousness and with all your might because your life depends on it. Running may mean different things to different people. It may mean looking for ways to make money; it may mean studying to pass an examination; it may mean securing a job; it may mean keeping your job; it may mean fighting to keep your marriage; it may mean just anything.

What this post is seeking to achieve is to pass across the message that to succeed in life, you cannot be complacent. You cannot be lethargic in your approach to life. You cannot wish your desires into existence. You must work towards achieving your dream(s). You must give your all to realising your desire. So can you assess your current position/situation and honestly give an accurate evaluation of your state? And whatever position you are in at the moment, know that you have no option but to RUN!!!

That Excuse Is Not Accepted

That Excuse Is Not Accepted

I read the story of a man, who probably as kid, underwent an IQ test and was labelled as having average intelligence. While in high school, he did not take his studies or future seriously. He barely got accepted to the university where he applied. While in college, he encountered a professor who inspired him. He realised that while he couldn’t change his IQ, he could control how long and how well he studied. He took an optional course on study techniques and began to discipline himself to study his books while his friends were partying. He graduated with a high grade point average that surpassed even his own expectations and was recruited by a top company.

What was the reason for James’ academic success? Attitude! His attitude! He developed a can do attitude and this made up for his apparent intellectual shortcoming. This tells me something. I don’t have an excuse for not making it in life. You don’t have an excuse for remaining a failure. While it is true that there are some things you do not have control over, there are many things you do have control over. For example, you can’t control your looks – they are determined genetically. But you can control your appearance. You can’t control your IQ but you can control how well and how hard you think. You may not have control over how much talent you have in a given area but you can control how much effort you expend to develop the talent you are born with.

Can you see that there are many things you can control about your life? You can’t just go on brooding over those things you cannot control about yourself. The truth is you can gain control over your life. All you need to do is to focus on those things you have control over. Then you will be able to lead your life instead of letting life lead you. How many people have lost hold of the reins on their lives? How many people have become directionless? How many are just drifters in life? A great percentage, I want to safely assume.

I just came back from a meeting with my bosses and at the meeting they encouraged me to resume a certain programme I had abandoned because of my perceived deficiency or weakness in certain courses. I was advised not to entertain any fear but to summon courage and complete the programme. I agreed, apparently because I had started writing this post and I must practise what I preach.

Let me end this piece with a story that reinforces the truth that none of us has an excuse not to achieve greatness in our own right. His name was Mathew Joseph Thaddes Stephanek. He was born in Washington D. C. in 1990. He had a serious disability, dysautonomic mitochondrial myopathy. This disability interrupted automatic functioning like breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. As a result, he needed a breathing tube and ventilator, and he was confined to wheelchair. He died just few weeks before his fourteenth birthday.

But his challenges didn’t stop him from becoming a bestselling author and poet, an award-winning speaker and a recognised advocate for disability and peacemaking. All five of his Heartsongs series of poetry books were New York Times bestsellers. Before he became confined to his wheelchair, he had earned a fine-degree in the martial art, hapkido. Despite his physical challenges, he was a practical joker and his enthusiasm for life was infectious.

So what excuse are you giving for mediocrity? What justification do you have for being an average person? What is the rationalisation you are providing for failing to succeed in life? NO MATTER WHAT YOUR REASONS ARE, THEY ARE NOT ENOUGH!

Celebrated or Tolerated?

Celebrated or Tolerated?

Have you ever been with people who never saw anything good in you? Have you associated with people who would always tear you down with their words and actions? These people do not think you are worth anything and they try to lecture you on what you must do before they approve of you.

On the other hand, have you been with people who see in you the good that you never thought was there? People who encourage you to be the best. People who love you for you. People you do not have to impress before they accept and approve of you. People who see you as the best thing to happen to them or as the next superstar and will not stop at anything to inspire your confidence.

I want to assume that you have at one time or the other been with these two sets of people. But the sad thing I have noticed is that there is a tendency for us to stick to the crowd that tolerates us instead of staying with the crowd that celebrates us. I think the reason for this is simple. We want to feel accepted and if there are people who show us that we have not earned their acceptance, we want to do everything to earn their acceptance. But if may ask, why do you need the acceptance of someone or those who do not accept you unconditionally before correcting you? Must you earn anyone’s acceptance before you feel good about yourself? Why don’t you bask in the fact that there is a crowd cheering you on in your journey through life. Why do you neglect and trivialise the company of those who accept you first before making suggestions on how to improve some aspects of your life?

I believe I have a great smile. In fact I believe my smile can disarm anyone. I believe my smile can melt any heart. But you will be shocked if I tell you where this belief came from – from a commercial motorcyclist! That was many years ago. I was trying to persuade him to accept a particular amount of money as the fare I had to pay him for transporting me to where I was going, when he commented on my smile. Since that day, I have always believed that I have a great smile. Recently, my inspirational boss commented on my voice and I cannot tell you how much that comment has boosted my self-confidence. A personal rule that I follow is to identify the people who celebrate me and stick with them.

Your self-portrait determines your self-confidence and those you stick with have a big part in shaping your self-portrait. Your self-portrait is the way you see yourself and what people say about you contributes to how you see yourself. Do you then see why you need to associate with those who water the seed of greatness in you? It is because your self-portrait controls your self-confidence and conduct. You will always act out what you think you are. So who is that person who speaks to the greatness in you? Identify your cheerleaders and stick with them. Who is that person who celebrates you? Don’t you think it is better to stick to such a person than to seek the favour of the one who only tolerates you?

I leave you with this question: are you being celebrated by those people you are with  or are you just being tolerated?

It takes 'U'-2

It takes “U” – Part 2

Complaining, worrying or crying about a problem will not solve the problem. You have to do something about it. You have to take concrete steps towards making the problem go away. You can’t wish the problem away. You must take action. As my inspirational boss would say, we all need to take a bottle of M.A.L.T. That is, More Action Less Talk. Unfortunately, it is the other way round with a lot of people. For them it is more talk less action. A friend of mine would always remind us that talk is cheap and that we should not just talk but act. We cannot continue to wait for people to rescue us from any unsavoury situation we find ourselves in.

One thing I have discovered is that when we take a step, things begin to fall in place. Help comes from where we were not even expecting. Favours just pour in from everywhere and we are surprised at how things have turned around quickly. That is why we should refuse to overanalyse a situation before taking action. Again I want to borrow a statement from my inspirational boss’ repertoire of sayings and it is that overanalysis leads to paralysis.

I have my car back now after the crash. But all this would not have been possible if when the crash happened all I did was wail and lament my ‘woes’. If I had looked at my financial state then, I would not have been able to repair the damage. When the panel beater told me what I would pay for his services and I  was thinking of where to get the money, my inspirational boss offered to foot part of the bill. He was the first person to bring out money for the repair (even before I did!) Some few days after, someone else also gave me some money and I was able to pay for the repairs and painting. If I had decided to wait to repair the car until I had all the money I needed, I probably would not have achieved anything.

Martin Luther King (Jnr) would not have accomplished anything if all he did was complain about the way blacks were treated in the United States. His efforts then have led to the emergence of a black president of the United States of America. If on that day in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks had not refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, only God knows for how long blacks would have suffered discrimination on in public buses. I find this incident intriguing, thus I want to share it with you:

Parks was riding home from work on the Cleveland Avenue bus line in Montgomery when she refused to give up her place in the front row of the 'coloured section' to a white man who could find no seat in the section reserved for whites. Her refusal to move to the back of the bus defied local ordinances and Alabama state statutes requiring segregation in public transportation. The driver called the police, and Parks was arrested, jailed, and eventually convicted of violating segregation laws. She was fined $10, plus $4 in court costs.

The black community in Montgomery was outraged by the case and organised a bus boycott that began as a one-day demonstration. But the boycott lasted 381 days in all, with nearly unanimous support from the 50,000 African Americans in Montgomery. Protesters formed an organization called the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) under the leadership of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. Sympathisers were urged not to ride on Montgomery’s segregated buses and other means of transportation was found for them. In November 1956, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a federal court decision which ordered the Montgomery buses desegregated. The order took effect the following month and this led to thecancellation of the boycott.

Can you see the outcome of one woman’s action? So if you are thinking of how to get out of that situation, I urge you to take a bottle of M.A.L.T.