“The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.”
― Gaylord Nelson”
Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and so they give their lives to little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it…and then it’s gone. This is how I closed off one of my talks in the past week.
After ending my corporate career, I seriously embarked on a journey of self-discovery. I’ve been doing a lot of reflections over my life and sacrifices I’ve made in unleashing my greatness. I remember being in a room, having a coaching session with the great Tim Storey. Tim storey is quite phenomenal. Tim has helped countless world shakers, like Robert Downey Jr., Kanye West, Christian Slater, Deion Sanders, Natalie Cole, Charlie Sheen, Hunter Tylo, Berry Gordy, Suzanne De Passe, Quincy Jones, Lee Iacocca, Brent Bolthouse, Smokey Robinson, Kobe Bryant and so many more. He is also doing a lot of work with Oprah Winfrey. He has visited about 75 countries and has spoken to millions of people. He often meets privately and counsels high-profile leaders in various industries. He is a speaker, author and life coach.
When I met him, he immediately knocked me down with his powerful words and then slowly picked me up with his smile and humility. He said, “Veli, the real you will make a demand on the person you become. You may be in a job that pays you well but if it’s not what you are meant to do, you’ll always have a void in your life.” Have you ever been in a job/career, relationship of any sort where you found yourself really feeling cold and lonely? It is this feeling that indicates to you that you haven’t connected with the real you, you are not home yet. People will look at you and envy your achievements but deep down within yourself, that void will be screaming at you to be filled.” In my talks and coaching sessions, I often say that a job is something you get paid for, but a calling is something you are made for! Yes, you may handsomely get paid for doing a job, but if it’s not your calling, you’ll never be fulfilled. It’s funny that you may be underpaid for doing something that’s your calling, but you will be fulfilled.
You see, no one is just a natural, there’s so much that goes behind the scenes in terms of sacrifice and hard work that is put in there. I think for me, this journey begins with you discovering yourself. This self-discovery comes from listening to your inner voice, intentionally watching yourself on the things you do and carefully listening and hearing what people are saying when you do the things you do. This is critical and life changing.
It is strikingly true that the real you, your calling will always make a demand on the person you become. So, to me, the purpose of life is to find your gift/calling and then the meaning of life is to express and share that gift. That to me is what life is all about. I invested everything in finding myself, my gift. Financially, I invested hundreds of thousands of rands in discovering and developing the person I am today. I pulled out all the financial investments I had made, there was no time for excuses. At times, I get so saddened by people who won’t invest few thousand rands in themselves. They complain that it’s expensive and complain about the fact that it will take long and stuff like that. This is the reason most people are tricked into these overnight get rich quick schemes because they’ve no patience, they’ve a microwave mentality of getting things instantly which unfortunately doesn’t work. The best way to deal with your fear is to educate yourself about it. When you feed your faith with education, you starve your fears and doubts to death.
Your level of sacrifice will determine your level of results. I truly believe that these two are directly proportional. It is easy to buy a self-help book hence you hear a lot of people saying smart things but not doing them, that’s easy to do, talk is cheap. For me, life changes when you appoint someone that will believe in your potential and push you until you begin to see what they see in you, self-help books don’t have the ability to do this. Never mistaken being book smart with being results smart.
As for me, Veli Ndaba –‘The Engineered Mind – to WIN’, I did not come this far to only come this far. I planned to reach my destination, I’ve only come part of the way. I did not come this far just to see the mountain, I came here to climb it and I’m going to. Jim Ron said, “When the end comes for you, let it find you conquering a new mountain, not sliding down an old one.” Yes, let’s conquer the new mountain!
Veli Ndaba is a Professional and Motivational Speaker, Life-Coach and Neuro Linguistic Programming Practitioner, Author of four books (You Are Born to Win, Your Dream is Calling You and SWITCH ON! And Set Your Soul On Fire!), Newspaper Columnist and Entrepreneur. To book him to speak at your next event or to help you and your team unleash your greatness, contact him on veli@velindaba.com, www.velindaba.com or +27 83 304 9773