eBusiness Weekly
Arthur Marara
I want to share with you on the fourth choice for greatness. I have tried to lay the foundation in the preceding articles. In case you missed the previous articles, visit Business Weekly website to access them, or look for hard copies.
I am going to repeat again, for all this to work for you, you need to take action. Great people execute, and not just wish things to happen. Wishing is not a strategy.
Your life begins to change the moment you change the choices that you are making. This is why I am really insisting that you master and understand the choices of greatness.
This week I want to challenge you to make a choice, which will change your life, choose to add value to others. The moment I discovered my purpose in life I have come to summarise it in the following statement, “I want to inspire people, I want someone to look at me and say, “Because of you, I didn’t give up”.
I have committed my life to adding value to other people through my work. I speak, I travel to speak, I write, I inspire people, I counsel, I mentor and challenge people to greatness.
I will never ask for more. I go back to bed every night with serious satisfaction that I have done my part, I have made a difference. Choose to add value to others.
Great people empower other people to be great. This is a conscious choice that you have to make for life.
Do not measure your success based on the misery of others, measure it based on the number of lives you have touched. The tragedy of our society is that we feel successful when we are surrounded by unsuccessful people.
I was speaking at Megafest Awards in July and I was challenging women to empower each other, support each other, and help each other rise. This equally applies to everyone in life.
Help other people become successful. Real transformation and real empowerment comes with the change in the attitude and approach towards other people. What goes around comes around.
Have you ever heard about the phrase, “what goes around comes around?” There is an interesting story that is told on this point.
“The man’s name was Fleming and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog.
“There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
“The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
“I want to repay you,” said the nobleman. You saved my son’s life.”
“No, I can’t accept payment for what I did,” the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer’s own son came to the door of the family hovel.
“Is that your son?” the nobleman asked.
“Yes,” the farmer replied proudly.
“I’ll make you a deal. Let me take your son and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he’ll grow up to be a man you can be proud of.”
And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming’s son graduated from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming; the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward, the nobleman’s son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The nobleman’s name? Randolph Churchill. His son’s name? Sir Winston Churchill.”
The moral of story?
“What goes around comes around.”
Though some have denied that this is a historical story, but the principle carried in the story is universal and apply even today. Do not withhold doing good to someone when it’s due.
Be a blessing to someone
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” said that most quoted of persons Charles Dickens. Someone is really counting on you, even though you might not know. Look for opportunities to make a difference in the lives of other people.
The true measure of success in life is the difference we have made in the lives of other people. We are living in a very selfish world today where people are concerned about their own affairs.
I was reading a certain book which said in 2020 alone, it was estimated that over a billion selfies were taken every day.
This only serves to show you how much people are self-absorbed. Do not join the band;make a difference in someone’s life.
Raise someone John Holmes observed correctly, “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” This is what we need as a nation, as communities, as families. Make this choice to raise someone.
I am where I am because of a mother who worked so hard for me to have a life. I am here because of one man, who made a choice to pay for my school fees from Secondary school to University.
I am indebted to my uncle Petros Kativhu. Today we look back at the journey we travelled and how fulfilling the choice he made was.
Now my duty as well is to raise more people, and challenge people to greatness. Find someone to raise today!
Reach out
I agree with John Bunyan says, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”
The focus of many people is to do favours for people who can repay them, but true greatness is realising that you need to reach out to people who also do not have the means to repay you.
I have travelled throughout Zimbabwe using personal resources to reach out to students, and at one point in time was almost involved in an accident.
After recovering from the shock, we went back into the road, and did our outreach. Am I doing this to be seen? No? I have a divine mandate carved in my purpose to reach out and inspire.
I become useless and irrelevant the moment I stop doing that. A good deed is an investment into your future. It will benefit one day your children, your grandchildren.
Join me on Star FM on Wednesdays (09:30am-10:00am) for some moments of inspiration on the Breeze with Tariro “Mai Judah”.
Arthur Marara is a corporate law attorney, keynote and peak performance speaker,business strategy facilitator commanding the stage with his delightful humour, raw energy, and wealth of life experiences. He is a financial wellness expert and is passionate about addressing the issues of wellness, sales, business leadership and strategy. Arthur is the author of the “Personal Development Toolkit”, “Keys to Effective Time Management” among other inspirational books. Follow him on social media, or WhatsApp him on +263718867255 or email [email protected]
