I am glad I did
We find ourselves in distressing moments reminiscencing on what we could have done. Eventually, that resuscitates fear in us that we can achieve no more. We end up becoming disillusioned. But Zig Ziggler gives us the most wonderful words of wisdom. He lectures: “At the end of your days, do not be the kind of people who say ‘I wish I had, I wish I had, I wish I had.’ Be the kind of people who say ‘I am glad I did, I am glad I did, I am glad I did’.”
Oftentimes, we regret as a result of procrastination. We keep on postponing our dreams as if we had the luxury to stop the ticking of the clock. If your dream is to go back to school, just go back to school, time will never be static waiting for you. If you see business opportunities, do not hesitate; take the initiative to grow your business. Most people would complain of capital. Capital is not a challenge in business; it is profitable ideas that are a challenge in business
To move on, to be able to say I am glad I did, one must be prepared to let some things go. To live a dream is to sacrifice some bits of life. One of the world’s leading speakers, Paul McGee, in a presentation titled Shut Up and Move On says: “When you let go some stuff, you are making room for bigger and better stuff to come into your life.”
The fact of the matter is that it is necessary that you let go the energy drainers in your life, people that do not challenge your thinking are not a necessary package to have in your life. You need to let go of meetings that do not add value to your life. You need to let go of social gatherings where you learn nothing that can propel you forward. As long as you keep on attaching yourself to circumstances, events and people that will maintain the status quo, you will never go anywhere. In the end, you will say “I wish I had”.
Life lesson is so simple; if you want to be prepared to do business, you have to be ready to do things that you are not comfortable with. It is tiresome and exhausting training on the football pitch every day but that is what makes Christiano Ronaldo. Usain Bolt runs almost every day just to prepare for Olympic games. Most businesspeople do not sleep adequately at night because they are busy discussing business deals but out of such sleepless nights comes success.
At the time war was looming to topple Sadaam Husein, the airlines business was in shambles as fuel costs had escalated. But even in such a crisis, the small Virgin Airlines and Richard Branson thought of doing something unexpected. There were hostages in Iraq that Hussein had agreed to release but no planes were flying into Baghdad. Branson negotiated through King Hussein of Jordan to be allowed to fly into Baghdah to airlift the hostages.
Branson narrates a wonderful story in the end. He says: “By flying into Baghdad and rescuing hostages, Virgin had again usurped British Airways traditional role. ….although this plane was just one of four planes Virgin Atlantic operated, suddenly we looked like a much larger airline.” That event possibly ballooned the image of Virgin Atlantic and must have propelled its growth. Branson did what no any other airline could be comfortable with and that made a difference.
The world has no shortage of people that manifest to us that the ‘I am glad I did’ is possible. Oprah Winfrey says: “I was raped at the age of nine, yet I am now one of the most influential people in the world.”
She never let the rape instance be a blockade to her life. She went on to live a life of her dreams. Bill Gates says: “I didn’t even complete my university education but became the world richest man.”
If Gates had procrastinated on his dream, he would be saying “I wish I had”. He cherishes in the term ‘I am glad I did’.
Celebrated neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, says: “I struggled academically throughout elementary school, yet I became the best neurosurgeon in the world.”
Lionel Messi has an exciting background to confess when he says: “I used to serve tea at a shop to support my football training and still became the world best footballer.”
Despite 27 years’ incarceration in prison, Nelson Mandela became president of the Republic of South Africa. He must have died with his heart cherishing ‘I am glad I did’.
To eventually come to the point we can cherishingly say ‘I am glad I did, there is need to do a soul-searching into what comes easy to you as leadership guru, Robin Sharma, usually says. It is people that find talking easy that become excellent broadcasters; it is those that love cracking jokes that become influential actors; it is usually those that make science subjects easy that join the medical and aviation fields; it is those that find pleasure in running that win marathons; it is those that find pleasure in fighting that eventually become celebrated boxers and wrestlers; it is those that cherish their voices that become singers mesmerising millions of people. The point is: nothing can stop you but yourself. Be the one to say in the end, ‘I am glad I did’.
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