They say, “going fast in the wrong direction is useless.” Equally, being persistent on a wrong cause or target will not get you far.
To win, first spend time defining your purpose. Our elders say, “if you are given 10 hours to cut down the tree, spend over 7 hours sharpening the axe.” This old wisdom helps us understand the importance of planning before we do anything.
Bruce Lee, one of the leading Martial Artist once said, “He does not fear the man who has practiced 100 different fighting styles for 5 years. He fears the man who has practiced one fighting style for 5 years.” This shows the importance of focus, which is usually a result of passion.
Set a target, and work hard on it. If you are at school, your target is to become an academic giant. To acquire knowledge, experiences, and critical networks with your peers. You must aim to excel in class as well as become a student leader. You must read books beyond classroom notes. Go to the library to read novels, newspapers and other non-fiction books to help you expand your vocabulary and outlook. Without great novels, it is difficult for someone to acquire good writing skills.
Forget about getting rich quick schemes, to win, you must invest time, energy, and imagination. You must be persistent. To win any game at the Olympics, one must invest so many hours of preparation. Even then, you can only win if you planned for a specific game or sport that gives you an edge over the rest. For Africans, endurance sports like marathon running and boxing have given us golds in the past. Given our weather and altitude, this sport gives Africans especially East Africans a huge advantage over the rest of the world. With persistence practice and a great coach, one could easily make it.
Remember, talent without persistence and hard work in preparation is useless.
And to master something, you must work hard one it and persist.
Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved.
