A while ago I wrote about the importance of taking more time to think (quantity), but equally important is the quality of our thoughts. Seems like the quality of the Springbok coach’s thoughts had a bit of a downturn during the last minutes of Saturday’s game.
When your business, organisation or church, plan for next year, do you only plot the same outdated activities on next year’s calendar, or do you use your creativity to plan something new and original.
Nobody likes stale bread and nobody likes a stale program. Why not a new plan for every new year?
Walter D. Wintle writes in his poem It’s all in the state of the mind; “You’ve got to think hard to rise; Think big and your deeds will grow, Think small and you fall behind.” Perhaps you need somebody from outside your organisation to facilitate your planning.
In 1960 there was a revolution in high jump. Dick Fosbury appeared on the scene with his new (now well known) style of jumping, the Fosbury Flop. Everybody said it would not work, but his answer was “Let’s wait and see.” At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico he won the gold medal and set a new world record; and nowadays everybody jumps that way.
Why? Fosbury was willing to say isn’t there perhaps a better way to do high jump … or for that matter to run your business, or to plan for next year? That is the function that leaders need to perform; to move into unchartered waters. The race to the top is about being more innovative, creative and leading.
To successfully venture into unchartered waters, a business needs a remarkable leader, not a manager. Leadership means not knowing what is going to happen tomorrow, you just know it’s going to take you where you want to go.
# Everything starts with a thought. Steven Covey says that everything is created twice. The first creation is the planning (thinking part) of whatever project or endeavour you intend to take on and the actual doing thereof is the second creation. Eg. Before you can build a house (second creation), you first need to draw up the plans (first creation).
Because the quality of our thoughts play a huge role in what we believe is possible and what we’ll achieve in the end, let us look at the rest of Walter Wintle’s poem.
IT’S ALL IN THE STATE OF THE MIND
If you think you are beaten you are;
If you think you dare not you don’t
If you think you’d like to win but can’t
It’s almost a “cinch” you won’t;
If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost,
For out in the world you’ll find
Success begins with a fellow’s will;
It’s all in the state of the mind.
For many a race is lost
Ere even a race is run,
And many a coward fails
Ere ever his work’s begun.
Think big and your deeds will grow,
Think small and you fall behind,
Think that you can, and you will:
It’s all in the state of the mind.
If you think you’re outclassed, you are;
You’ve got to think hard to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battle doesn’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the fellow who thinks he can.
It is much easier to make quality decisions when you are doing what you were born to do. A Career Direct Assessment will help you know and understand your authentic self. It makes all the difference.
Also tune in to my program “Jy die Entrepreneur” Monday evenings at 20:00 and Saturdays 12:30 on Radio Namakwaland www.934fm.co.za.
