It is Friday evening. You are in the middle of one of the largest junctions in Kampala – the New Taxi Park. There are many taxi conductors shouting various destinations. The park is full of people moving about, all in a hurry. It is only you who seems lost. You are looking for a taxi heading to your destination. You seem not to find any taxi to your destination.
What is your destination?
If you don’t know where you are going, no road is a good road. Get a piece of paper and write the most pressing issue in your life today. Is it lack of money? Poor health?Lack of a loving social network? Are you home sick? Is it a job or work you hate or a bad boss? Are they family problems? Most of the people in my private mentorship program find it easier when they get a blank piece of paper and write down all the things in their life that worry them. Once you do that, categorize the items into three: high, medium and low. Examine carefully the root cause of all factors categorized under high. Anything that keeps you up at night is a ‘high’ category issue. You must fix it asap.
I have been having a tooth that I kept on postponing to visit a dentist. However, 13th October 2017 was a different day. I woke up as usual. Brushed as usual. But this time I noticed blood in the toothbrush. I cleared my mouth with lots of water and everything appeared fine. Off to work I went.
Just as I sat in office, I felt something like sour taste in my mouth. It was unusual. I checked in the gent’s mirror and I saw blood. I again put lots of water, cleaned myself and tried to pretend all was well. It was not. A few minutes later, the same feeling returned.
This time, I decided to Google. Now, I had never experienced the kind of anxiety one can get when things seem not to be going fine. Google disclosed to me that blood that continuously flows in the teeth could be damn serious. It could mean your blood is not clotting. And that is most dangerous as it may mean that your blood could be ‘sick.’ Oh my God. I instantly said, Our Father. And pulled out the Rosary from my drawer! I immediately called my wife to take me to a Dentist.
Thank God that it only took 40 minutes to get my teeth fixed. And the cause was revealed as a tooth pick used badly. You too, stop using tooth picks.
I have found that the best personal development trait is the habit to fix the most critical thing that is in front of you. Stop making those grand plans and dreams. Focus on fixing the most pressing issue in your life, one at a time.
That will provide you with clarity of a destination. When you identify the most pressing thing. Look at how your life will be once it is fixed. Now that is your ‘practical’ dream. Every time you fix a challenge, move on to the next. Because life is a journey. You cannot get everything you want, at a go.
