Leading from The Front

He has lived 95 years of purpose and determination. After gracing the earth with his warmth and charisma the African legend and international Icon Mr Nelson Rholihlahla Mandela has passed on. “He was a kind of person that makes me want to become a better man” President Of the USA Barrack Obama was quoted saying those words during the memorial of a great icon also first president of a democratic South Africa Mr Nelson Mandela which was held on the 10 December 2013 in south Africa.

What is worth taking from the great life of Nelson Mandela?

His compassion and humility towards other people is worth taking. The best term to describe him towards other people is the word Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an African word which describes a human spirit which is a greater degree of humility and respect to another.

His great purpose of serving people is another great trait this icon displayed. In most cases we complain about the people in power about their greed and their eagerness to be dominant in all areas at their boundary. After experiencing oppression all black people that were under the South African government(Apartheid) had a negative attitude towards all white people. But what this great man did was un-expected when he declared that they will not seek for revenge of their oppressors he responded by saying: “Never, never and never again in this beautiful country shall one experience oppression from another”. This what made him different from any other and it made him great!

His genuine charisma is one of his best traits. It is no doubt that Mr Nelson Mandela is amongst the most charismatic leaders in the history. He was poised to be savior in the apartheid era and he became more popular because of his great courage of standing for the rights of the black nation.

His focus and determination is one of the things that made him a great leader. He was sentenced for 27 years by the apartheid government charged with sabotage and plotting to overthrow the apartheid government. He served 18 years in a lonely prison at Robin Island. All his days in jail he was breaking stones and he was forbidden to wear sunglasses so that the sun may blister in his eyes. But what kept him going? He was driven by the legacy he will live for his people and his family as well. When things go tough he was kept by the desire to liberate his nation and the future he might provide for his children and the rest of the nation.

Mr Nelson Mandela’s leadership qualities were worth noting.  After he got to the presidential seat beating Mr W De Klerk he allowed him to continue living in his presidential accommodation even though he could have kicked him out as a new president and as one who had authority to do so. He not only did that but he made a peace rally between the oppressed (Black nation, Indian nation, colored nation) and the oppressor(White Nation).

He fought for what he believed in. Not a threat of a death sentence, not continuous beating from apartheid police, nothing stopped him   from persuading his dream of getting the freedom for his people.

Then the question lies in you, what then is stopping you from being a great leader, business person, sport man or musician? Let a life of this phenomenal human being inspire you to be great in every aspect of your life by just taking a hint of what he has done to be great in his!

Dreams that can't be dreamt

It is almost guaranteed that whenever you work towards your dream you will always find opposition which will cause you to doubt your abilities.The value of a dream to one is sentimental and should not necessarily make sense to anybody else but the pursuer of that dream.

But what is it that differs from one who has achieved their dream to one that hasn't? "What a mind can conceive, then the body can achieve it". If you do not believe it yourself it is almost impossible to achieve it. One of the greatest boxers of all time Mohamed Ali said he won all his fights before he got into the boxing ring. He would meditate and envision himself taking down his competition. To some who have seen his documentaries they know he even went to a point that he predicted some of his victories, he would speculate at which round will he knock out his opposition. He was confident on himself and he believed in what he said. However those guys who got beaten by him probably believed that he was better than them that why they got beaten. The lesson in this mostly is that the difference in the victor and the loser is self belief.

 Achieving a dream is very difficult and it requires a lot, however it is achievable regardless how big that dream can be. You will face opposition from all kinds of directions however if you keep focused you can achieve it.
There are a couple of steps and stages you will have to prepare for in order to be groomed and well ready to go for your dream. You will need to have:
 1. Goal
A goal gives a map and a direction of the steps you should take in order to achieve your dream

2. Get a mentor
Getting a mentor would help you go through the challenging parts of your goals

3. Never Give up
In life you will fail in a couple of things, you won't get it right all the time but it id important to understand that your failures can not dictate how far you go in life. But they should serve as a tool that grooms you and develop your skills in the specific area you are failing at.

 4. Know your strengths and weaknesses
Knowing yourself will help you become realistic about your goals and it will enable you to seek for well needed help where you are weak, instead of trying to do everything yourself and compromise the quality of the thing you pursue.

5. Believe
If you believe it can be done then it will be done. Believe in yourself. Meditate and trust your abilities that God has blessed you with

It is important that if you are looking to achieve your dreams not to allow factors from the outside affect what you have in the inside. Believe that you can do it, realise the greatness you have inside you, be relentless, be assertive, be all that you want to be just because you can!

Attitude is Everything

“If you think you can or think you can’t either way you’re right” – Henry Ford (I)

It has probably been the main factor if not the only factor that differentiates one who achieved their goals from one who hasn’t. Attitude is what it’s called. What makes a difference is the attitude they have when encountering challenges.

“We have 90% of things we can control and the 10% we can’t. You’re attitude is based on how you react to the 10% of the things you can’t control” - unknown

What is the meaning of that? This means that in life we will certainly encounter things that serve as a challenge, but what actually course the real problem is how we react to the situations we don’t have control over. Attitude has everything to do with whether we succeed in life or not. It is important to have a positive attitude if you are looking to succeed in anything you are doing.

Have you ever noticed how well your day goes when you‘re feeling good? On that day the mostly likely things to upset you just don’t faze you. What courses that? It’s because when you feel good that’s the only thing that matters at that point, the other things that would set you off your mood you don’t really pay attention to. Why then can’t we live each day like day instead of paying attention to things that don’t add real value to your lives? A positive attitude has such great power in a person’s life and therefore is a necessary tool to anyone who wants to experience great success in his or her life