Try Hard, Fail Harder

by Jose K. Masawanie, Jun.

Ask any of my friends they will tell you that Stephen Curry is my favourite NBA player and Golden State Warriors is my favourite team. Apart from Klay Thompson’s 60-point game in 3 quarters (Klay’s stats for that game were staggeringly unreal), Steph Curry’s record-breaking 13 3-pointers against New Orleans Pelicans on Nov, 8 made my 2016 in terms of basketball.  Stephen Curry made 13 out 17 3-point shots in a win against New Orleans Pelicans and set the record for the most 3-pointers made in a regular season game. And FYI, the previous 3-point record of 12 was held by Kobe Bryant, Donyell Marshall and of course Stephen Curry.

What excited me the most was not just because he set a new 3-point shooting record (Curry and the Warriors set records all the time); but the fact that he made 13 of 17, 3 pointers, when he was coming from a game where the Warriors lost against the Lakers and Steph had made 0 of 10 3 pointers, making it the first time in 157 consecutive games when Steph failed to make a 3 pointer. Think of it this way: what motivated him to try and shoot 3’s again after not making any in the previous game? I mean, he had all the reasons to not attempt any more 3 pointers and maybe just make assists (he is also very good at that). But he kept shooting. He didn’t stop trying.

Here is another fact about Stephen Curry: He has led the past four seasons in NBA in 3-point shots made. He keeps breaking his own record in 3-point shooting. But what most people don’t know is that Steph has also led in 3-point shots attempted in these past four seasons. So basically, he had led in the previous seasons because he attempted more 3-point shots than the other players. He tried harder than the other guys.

Since I am a blogger not a sports analyst you might be wondering what my point is here: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”, Wayne Gretzky. Most people fail because they don’t try and they don’t try because they are afraid they are going to fail. Someone said, “fear (of failure) kills more dreams than failure ever will”.The difference between failure and failing is attitude and the action that follows that attitude. You are not a failure until you give in to failing. Sometimes success comes in easy but many times the only way to success is to try harder even if you keep failing. Failing is temporary. Failing is part of success.

Winston Churchill said, “success is stumbling from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”. The people who have done great things in this world aren’t necessarily the smartest; most of them just tried harder and “stayed with problems longer” as Albert Einstein would put it. They maintained enthusiasm and focus even in the advent of repeated failure and recurrent disappointments. When Thomas Edison was working on the light bulb he failed 10,000 times and after he had succeeded this is what he said:”I have not failed. I have found 10,000 ways that won’t work”. What an attitude.

In 2017, I would like to challenge you to try harder and stay enthusiastic. Those challenges that you have, stay with them longer. Don’t throw in the towel. Rev. Dr. Chris Oyakhilome D.D. of Believers’ Loveword Inc. likes to say, “problems gravitate towards their solution”. If you can see the problem, then you are the solution or you have the solution to it. Try harder and stay with the problem longer, you will succeed. It’s better to try and not succeed than not to try and not know whether you would have failed or succeeded. Trying may not guarantee you success, but you are guaranteed to fail if you don’t try. Trying is in itself success. Success is a process not an event or an achievement, and trying and failing are part of that process. Someone who doesn’t quit doesn’t fail. If you have to try, try hard, and if you have to fail, fail harder, but whatever happens don’t stop trying.

#2017Goals

#IFlourish

BECOME YOUR DREAM II

Jose K. Masawanie, Jun.

 

It’s okay to be “you”. You don’t have to be like someone else to be successful. You don’t have to become the next Steve Jobs, William Shakespeare, Picasso or Mozart. Just be the best version of you. In your best form even those people you look up to, would look up to you.

Nothing wrong with getting inspiration from what others have accomplished. We actually need that from time to time. But don’t be inspired to be them, be inspired to be the best version of you. You are unique, we all are. We are about 7 billion people on the face of the earth and no two finger prints are alike. That shows that you cannot be like anyone else. If you try to become like someone else you may succeed at becoming the most impressive copy-cat; but that’s what you will be, a copy-cat. Be original.

You don’t have to be complicated to be creative

By being original I am not saying you should launch a mind rocket to the moon to get some outta-space idea,no. You don’t have to be complicated to be creative. Most of the time creative ideas lie in plain sight and are trampled upon by most people. Like Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is seeing what everyone else has seen and thinking what no one else has thought“. Within you and around you lies opportunities to trigger and unearth the “you” the world has been waiting for.

You should understand that there is a version of you that the world has been expecting. The world is hurting, and it is waiting for you to help it. The world needs you. The world is waiting for the “you” that will find a cure to the so-called incurable disease, the you that will revolutionize the tech-world, the “you” that will make great discoveries and inventions. If you hide under the shadows of other people’s greatness, the world will be robbed of your greatness.

All great inventions and discoveries are interrelated. We wouldn’t have Facebook, if we didn’t have computer technology and the internet. Your hiding of your talent could be hindering the blossoming  of other great talents from. Get out of your cocoon, spread your wings and fly. Don’t be afraid of shinning your shine.

You are in a class of your own, don’t live like a commoner. As John Mason would put it, “You were born an original don’t die a copy“. Become your dream.

BECOME YOUR DREAM

By Jose Masawanie, Jun.

Growing up, I was often asked the question: What do you want to be when you grow up? That question was easy to answer when I was in the lower classes of elementary school because all I had to do was parrot what the previous guy had said. Pretty easy. So, turns out everyone in our class wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, an accountant, a teacher, a policeman or an engineer. Fantastic!

But as we got to the senior classes of elementary school the reality of those professions began to settle in and the enthusiasm gradually wavered. Especially upon learning that you cannot be an accountant or an engineer if you have not memorized the multiplication table, which was always at the back of our notebooks. Pretty radical I know!

In secondary school, Calculus, Map Reading and Company wavered these dreams even more for most people. And then to apply for college most of the time you had to consider your aggregate points before circling MBBS or Bachelor of Electrical Engineering as your first choice. And sometimes you would be redirected to a program which you did not apply for. And then you would end up in a Drama 101 class when you wanted to do Botany. Yeah, pretty dramatic!

What’s the point? just wait I am getting there.

And if you are like me and did BAH (Bachelor of Arts Humanities, pronounced the way it is spelled), and majored some socially unorthodox courses like English, Philosophy, Drama or Classics oh boy!!! The jokes on you are pretty classic. The kind of interrogations that you endure about what you did in college take the form of academic witch-hunting. People take turns asking you: “what will you do with you degree? who will you work as? Who is going to hire you?”

Well, In my case it gets more interesting when I let them know that I am a writer and a poet, and that writing is pretty much what I do. They go like, “dude! You are in Malawi, in Africa, people don’t buy books to ‘read’ here. If people don’t even go to the library to read free books, do you think they are going to buy your books? At this point all I can do is smile at their quizzical faces.

Now here is the point: BECOME YOUR DREAM and take pleasure in whom you have become.

You don’t have to go do a second degree in Economics or Law because that’s the big thing right now. Bloom where you are planted. Believe you me, grass is always greener on the other side. Do what you are passionate about about. if you can’t, be passionate about what you are doing. By the way, nothing wrong with getting an Economics degree on top of your B.A. (English) degree . If that’s what you want, pull a Nike already- Just do it.

Don’t let money, fame or status come in between you and your dream. I know that at the mention of money your eyebrows are already on the match, but please stay with me. I am by no means a minister of the “poverty gospel” (whatever that means); on the contrary I am a “radical” christian who believes in prosperity. My point on money is that, money should not be the point. It should not be the motivation. Neither should fame or status. Become you dream. When you do, these other things will come chasing after you.

Don’t make money your product, its a by-product. Its easy to loose focus, when your focus is on money. And in the end you loose both your dream and the money.

Be what you want to be and be the best in your field. Dream. And unless your dream is to be a dreamer, wake up and become your dream.

LEARN TO LIVE WITH YOURSELF

By Jose Masawanie, Jun.

 

You are the person you have closest to you. Learn to live with yourself. Learn to love yourself. Embrace yourself. Don’t allow your mistakes to alienate you from yourself. Don’t let failure alienate you from yourself. Beating yourself up for failing won’t make you any better. Torturing yourself for making mistakes won’t correct them. You are more than the mistakes you have made. Your worth transcends you errors.

My mentor likes to say, “make your mistakes boldly”. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes; they are part of the success process. Enjoy the mistakes that you make. Instead of baby-sitting failure, laugh about it and move on with your life.

Why should anybody celebrate you when you don’t even see the need to celebrate yourself?

Learn to live with yourself. Learn to love yourself. Smile at yourself in the mirror more often. Hug yourself more often. Buy yourself a gift on your birthday. Congratulate yourself for those achievements. Why should anybody celebrate you when you don’t even see the need to celebrate yourself?

It will be hard for you to love others if you do not love yourself. You will find it hard to live with other people if you can’t stand yourself. The Bible commands us love our neighbor as we love ourselves.But you cannot love your neighbor, if you don’t love yourself. If you are one of those who find it hard to compliment other people, try to compliment yourself and you will begin to see good things in others that call for a compliments.

Learn to live with yourself; enjoying every moment of your life. Enjoy the shape of your head. Enjoy the color of your skin. Lamenting over how short you are won’t make you any taller; so you might as well enjoy being short. You don’t have to be like someone else to enjoy life. You can enjoy your life the way you are.  And guess what! God likes you the way you are. He loves you the way you are. So, you can also love yourself the way you are, it doesn’t hurt.

ARE YOU LIVING OR JUST “NOT DYING”?

By Jose Masawanie Jun

 

In the animated adventure comedy film The Croods, there is an interesting conversation between a daughter and a father. The father was accustomed to living in caves, in the dark because he thought it was way safer to live in solitary and in the dark away from any manner of risks. The daughter on the other hand was adventurous. She wanted to explore the world and was tired of living in the dark. So when her dad reasoned with her that staying in the dark caves was what kept them (their family) alive, she retorted, “that wasn’t living, that was just not dying”.

Are you living or just “not dying”? Are you living or existing? Biologically, you have to grow every day to stay alive. The same applies to the emotional, social and intellectual faculties of your life. If you are not getting better at that craft of yours, you are dying.

Death is a process of cessation or deterioration. Death isn’t just when a mass of flesh is lying motionless in a coffin and being lowered 6 feet down. Every day which you are not growing, every day which you are not improving your life; you are dying. That means if you haven’t been growing in your life for some time now, you are a dead man walking.

Challenge yourself to grow every day. Learn something new every day. Take an online course, read a book, enroll for weekend classes, learn a second language. Do whatever it takes to stay alive. In your field of expertise if you do not grow “some”, someone will grow “some” somewhere and replace you.

You have to increase you speed just remain where you are

You need to increase even the more to keep on progressing.If you stop learning you will become obsolete. What you learnt yesterday, has brought you this far, you have to learn something today to get you to tomorrow. Be important, be relevant. Knowledge empowers us to live today and more knowledge ensures us a place tomorrow. Learn to learn. Always learn, always be a student.

HOW WILL THE STORY END?

By Chikondi Kateta

 
We are often confronted by the past. The past tries to get in the way of the future and frustrate our hope for the future. The world has success stories of people whose beginning was not as pleasant but the end was beautiful. What that suggests is that, our backgrounds have little power over our future than we give them credit for. It really doesn’t matter where you are from or what you have been through, you can become anything. How the story begins is of less importance compared to how it ends

Last year, a World Bank report categorized Malawi as the poorest country in the world. To some that meant a hopeless life in which making it would be at the mercy of the donor community. And others were indifferent to the news, having accepted poverty as their permanent status and not willing to do anything about it. But there is another group of individuals who saw that as an opportunity to make Malawi better.

If you are from Malawi and you are reading this, I hope you are in the group of those that are concerned but at the same time determined to warm up the warm heart of Africa. I hope you are one of those who will take this as an opportunity to rise up the Malawian flag and prove that prosperity has no racial or geographical bearing. To prove to the world that with a vision, determination and hard work any society, community or nation can flourish.

As long as you have wisdom in your heart, a vision and determination in your mind and strength in your body, you can do anything

Don’t let the current status of your life, society or nation drain you out of the strength to do make improvements. At whatever level of disappointment you may find yourself at, don’t sink into a que-sera-sera mode. As long as you have wisdom in your heart, a vision and determination in your mind and strength in your body, you can do anything. You have something exceptional which you can contribute to your society. You have something to bring to the table; something unique because you are unique. Don’t let the past win over your future. Don’t let where you come from affect where you are going. Tap into your inner man and bring out your exceptionalism and unleash it into the world.

Recently I read about a 16-year-old boy from Jacaranda school in Blantyre, Malawi. He has parents but they could not afford to provide for him so he found himself in a school of orphans. He is a good artist, dancer and singer. When he was asked of his skills he said, “I do not consider where I came from, I believe I can achieve anything with the right attitude and determination”. I don’t know what you are thinking but, when I read that I thought to myself, what a perception in life? Facing life with such an attitude by such a lad? I was inspired.

It matters not where you come from. Where you are going is more important. There are people who only talk about how their past was good but now life is miserable. These fellows always say, “I had this in the past” or “life was like this in the past”. Their language is punctuated with an admiration of the “good-old days”, a negative perception of the present and a sigh of uncertainty about future. But what’s the point dwelling on the past when you can never return to it? I believe that, at any given point in time, we have the power to say, “this is not how the story is going to end”. Decide today that your story will end better than it started. Your family, society or country shouldn’t stay as it is. Make it better, bring out those brilliant ideas and change things.

LIFE HAPPENS EVERYDAY

By Jose Masawanie Jun

Life doesn’t happen the day you feel all kind of high. Life doesn’t happen the day she says I do or the moment he proposes love to you. Life doesn’t begin at 40. From the day you were born, life began, and since then, it happens every day. The clock began ticking the day you opened your eyes. Time was set in motion the day you were born and it hasn’t stopped moving ever since.

There has not been any moment when time slowed down or moved faster. There has never been a day when life stopped happening. Times is always running; Life is always happening. It is those that let life happen without them that eventually run out of time.

The clock of your life has no clue that this year had one day more than last year; all it does is tick. The clock of your life doesn’t know that you are not a “morning person” or that there are days when you don’t feel like waking up; all it does is tick. what’s my point? Life happens every day and the clock of your life is ticking every second.

Life does not need your consent to happen; time does not require your approval to tick.

You may wish to take a break. You may wish to relax your grip on life. You may procrastinate. But your clock is still ticking, Life is still happening. You will miss out on a big deal of life if circumstances dictate whether you live or not. You will lose out opportunities in life if you only work when you feel like it. Feelings are overrated.

Make every day count. Live every moment of your life. Don’t allow a moment of your life to pass you by dozing in naivety or fliting with mundanity. You only live once. Heraclitus was right when he said that, you cannot step into the same river twice. Your life is like a flowing river; it is in constant motion. It’s up to you to move with it or to stay behind nursing wounds of failure or obsessing over trophies of mediocrity.

People talk of equality, but time is the only thing in the world that we all have equally. The billionaire sipping champagne at the back of his Roll Royce and the pauper swallowing dry saliva for breakfast all have 24 hours a day. What are you doing with your time? What are you doing with your life? You may not have been born with a silver spoon in your mouth, but you were born with time on you hand. Invest your time; invest your life. Because as I am writing this, time is ticking and life is happening

DON’T LEAVE LIKE YOU NEVER CAME

By Brenda Mwale

There is a reason why you were born in this word at such a time like this. How, when and where you were born could be a whole different story. And for some the “how?”, the “where?” and the” when?” of their birth is unpleasant to say the least. Some people were born out of proper preparation and expectation of their parents and so their birth into the world was greeted with open arms smiley faces. On the other hand, the birth of some was unsolicited and hence they did not have a grand entrance with smiles and laughter. But always remember that the “how?”, the “where?” and the” when?” of you birth do not invalidate or demean your “why?” (purpose). Whether you were born in our out of a wedlock does not matter; what matters is that you are here and that, you are here for a purpose.

Your life might seem a dry, boring and uninspiring, but if you look close enough, you will find out that there is a spark on the inside that can light up the whole world. What you need to do is ignite that fire and let loose. Don’t be afraid of failure, don’t be afraid of disappointments. Don’t let your past experiences hinder you from achieving greatness. If you past does not inspire you leave it behind where it belongs. Maintain an attitude of a winner: An I-can-do-all-things attitude.

Go for that dream of yours. Yeah, that dream you have is possible irrespective of whatever circumstances you may have gone through. Challenges will always be there but your attitude towards those challenges matters more than the challenges themselves. With the right kind of attitude you can do anything. A man who does not quit cannot be defeated. That’s how powerful a good attitude is; it makes you invincible. What people call failure is just success in reverse. What ordinary people call a challenge, is just an opportunity is disguise. The difference between success and failure goes down to “attitude”.

Don’t leave this earth as if you never came. Don’t just “exist” as a demographical statistic, “live”; live to your full potential, empty your life. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Pastor Karen Victor of Christ Embassy Cape town likes to say that: small dreams are boring. Think global. Be a beacon of hope, a fountain of joy, a spring of peace and a stream of love for the world. Remember,

“the extent of your vision is the boundary of your blessings” -Rev. Dr. Chris Oyakhilome

If you can see it with your eyes of faith, you can do it. The term “impossible” is overrated: anything is possible.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

By Chikondi Kateta

The theory of functionalism states that, a society is like a living organism with different parts, and that for there to be a balanced maintenance of the society, each part must play its role; otherwise, there will be an imbalance in the functioning of the society.

Some weeks ago my colleague wrote of how life begins when you discover the reason for your existence. It is called purpose. Purpose is the motivation for creation. That means, everything that exists is vital. That includes you. And I would like to challenge you to wake up to your relevance and take up your responsibility. You matter. You bring to the table something that no one else brings. That’s why you are unique. If you weren’t aware, you are the only one ever, who has a finger-print like the one on you thumb right now; you are that unique.

A lot of people believe that the government is the solution to their problems. So they blame the government for typically anything that goes wrong in their lives. In as much as the government has a duty towards you as a citizen, I believe that you are the only person that can develop you. Clearly, it is those people who don’t want to take responsibility of their lives who blame a higher power, be it political, social or spiritual, for their problems. Someone once said when you are pointing a finger at someone; never forget the three fingers pointing back at you. Let me break down for you: whatever is happening in your life, you are responsible period.

This may sound a little cruel to some, but Rev Dr. Chris Oyakhilome  once said that, your yesterday may have been someone’s fault, maybe even your today, but tomorrow is all on you. You may not be able to change your yesterday and your today may not be as pleasant; but what you do today will determine what you will become tomorrow. So the question is what can you can do? What can you do today that can ensure you a glorious tomorrow?

We are born with a great treasure deposited in us, such that, if these treasures where to be brought out, the world would be more glorious than it is now. Don’t leave the world worse than you found it; It is an error. Strive to make it better, bring out the treasures that are in you.

“Don’t die full, die empty”- Dr Myles Munroe  

Don’t die full, die fulfilled after filling the earth with what you were full of. You can do something about your life. You can do something about your community. You can do it now.

The Question “Why?”

By Jose Masawanie, Jun.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why” -Mark Twain

Why are you here? Why are you here now?

A lot of people in  social, academic and  professional circles have argued that “why” is the ultimate question; the question that underlies every endeavor of human beings. This kind of thinking implies that life has a purpose; there is a reason for existence. All that exist, exist for a reason; all that is, is there for a purpose.

If grains of sand and the dust in the air have a reason for being, what more human beings? We are here for a purpose. We were born for a reason. Our true satisfaction and ultimate happiness in life is inseparable from fulfilling our purpose. Success in life is finding your purpose and fulfilling it. Like Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why“. I daresay, you haven’t started living until you find and fulfill your purpose. Life does not begin when you go to college, or when you get married. Life doesn’t begin at 40; Life begins the day you find out “why”. Life begins the day you know your purpose. life begins to make sense the day you know why you were born. You life fits in into a cosmic puzzle, your absence in life leaves a cosmic gap that cannot be filled by anybody. God did not make you unique for showbiz or just to prove a point. He endowed in you traits and talents that cannot be replicated or duplicated because you have a purpose that only you can fulfill. And combined with the purposes of other human beings, you make the world a better place. Your purpose gives you relevance.

It’s never too early or too late to find out why. Find out “why” and live.

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