eBusiness Weekly
Arthur Marara
The question that I am often asked several times is, “What do I need to do to attain greatness.” There is no one single answer to this important question. There is one sad truth of life, it is very possible for you to live and die with no evidence of ever having lived. This is the reason why many people require tombstones, so that they won’t be forgotten.
Myles Munroe, one of the most influential persons on the subject of leadership, once said: “Live your life in such a way that you do not need a tombstone to show that you once lived.” This is the challenge I am giving you today. What is it that you are doing with your life that will remain on the face of earth and attest to your greatness?
Story of Joan of arc
I must confess I am an animation movies fanatic. I watch animated movies. I am not indiscriminate however when it comes to what I watch. One day I was on YouTube searching for a series of animations that inspired me when I was still doing my High School, “Animated Hero Classics”. I came into contact with a story of Joan of Arc. I had never watched it before, but ever since then I have watched it several times.
This is a story of young maid, who for a greater part of her life, was unknown, yet there was a prophecy on her life that she would save France from the English.
One day the king called for her, and entrusted the leadership of the army with her. She shocked the English with major defeats to an extent that they believed that this was an act of witchcraft that was backing her. She was framed for witchcraft, and kidnapped. Eventually she was sentenced to death by burning at the stake.
Years later the trial condemning Joan was declared null and void and she was cleared of any wrongdoing. One French poet was to describe her in the most of sentimental times, “Oh Joan, we have no portrait to remember you, but the true monument of heroes resides in the hearts of the living.” So profound, there is no portrait of Joan but we still talk about her today. This is true greatness.
She was not a millionaire, she was not an artist, she was not an actress, she was not painter, but a dedicated soldier who stood tall and answered the call on her life. You do not need to be a public person for you to attain greatness; you just need to be you.
What does it take thus for you to step into this zone, and live out your greatness. The answer to this question is the above three keys which I think best describes the major steps in your life.
Discover
I am writing this article waiting for an appointment. I had come to this meeting with the thinking that it would not be taking much time, but I have been proven wrong because I have to wait. But, do I wait and complain? Certainly no! I have to do something that makes and adds value even as I am waiting.
The answer is pretty simple, I am going to share my thoughts on greatness with you the reader, and by the time I am done with this article, I would have made serious progress. Why is it easy for me to write this article, without even having a textbook close to me or even an internet connection? The answer is actually simple, I discovered my purpose, and what I am doing now is simply to bleed. I am pouring myself out to you, because this is what I am called to do in this life. I have discovered myself, and I know who I am.
There is no greatness without self-discovery. Who are you? Where are you from? What is your unique purpose on earth? How do you want to be remembered when you die? What problem do you want to solve for mankind. You see every great person you see or read about solved or is solving a human problem. It, however, starts by discovering yourself. What are you passionate about?
It is very possible to live and die an average life. The secret is simple; do not care about discovering yourself and your gifts. I have had the opportunity of watching Christiano Ronaldo (with his team) playing against Spain during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and him literally rescuing Portugal from potential defeat.
I am not a football fan, but one thing I can tell you is that the man discovered himself. When he is playing soccer he is actually not working he is doing a hobby. There are several more examples of people who are gifted. Ronaldo would have been living a miserable life if he was not playing soccer.
- Have you discovered your gift?
- Have you discovered your purpose?
- Do you know how to discover it?
- Do you want to discover it?
If you want to discover it, I would highly recommend you read my book, “The Personal Development Toolkit” where I shared a whole chapter on discovering yourself. I will just share some thoughts in passing on how to discover you. I wrote earlier on some key questions that you need to ask yourself in your quest for self-discovery.
How to discover your gift or purpose
This is a very exciting topic for me because that is where greatness begins. Mark Twain was right when he said, “there are two important days in your life, the day you are born and the day you discover why”. Insanely precise observation! Dr. George Washington Carver, said, “No one is allowed to pass through the earth without giving justification why he ever passed through it.” These two quotes show the importance of discovering your purpose. But how do you do that? This is not an easy question but yet remains a very important aspect of life if you are going to turn around your life.
My story
It always sounds better when you tell your own story. I am yet to develop a resume I can go to town about, but I believe I have done a few exploits. I am an attorney (lawyer) by profession; this is what I actually do between 8am-5pm. I am also an author of over 14 published books, and my goal is 40 books before I get to the age of 40. Seven of my books are being read in High Schools in Zimbabwe. I am also a professional speaker, every week I speak to companies, organisations, individuals, churches what have you. I do not have any outstanding results, and so that you may know I have a “C” in English at “O” Level and 3rd Class in University Communication skills. I have no prior training in public speaking, and no training in writing, but my work actually revolves around communication.
Growing, I was introduced to the idea of novels by my Grade 6 teacher, who gave one of the students to read for the whole class a novel called, “Pafunge” a book I still have great regard for. As the book was being read a seed was planted in me that I wanted to be a novelist, and every time the book was read I got even more curious as to how to write a novel.
There was no one to mentor me at that age, and little did I know that you also need mentoring, which explains why I am keen on mentoring young people to live their dreams. The dream lived on until I was in Form 1, and I tried to write a novel. This was disaster as I could not go anywhere with the storyline.
Form 5, I saw some books by P.D. Griffiths which were covering the Apostolic Age. I realised that there was no similar book for the Old Testament. An idea was birthed but this time, my version of the book, would be consolidated covering the whole syllabus. I started working on the book seriously when I was doing relief teaching.
One thing that I quite noticed when I was writing this book was that it was easy to write it, and I wasn’t stuck. I also realised that the first part of the book, was motivational and that cultivated an interest in me to write later on motivational books, and the writing eventually opened doors and invitations for speaking. The story is longer than this but had to abbreviate it.
At no point in time in my life did I ever envision myself standing in front of people speaking, but I thank God for opening my eyes to a new possibility and a new reality. I was afraid of eyes, and public addresses, but now I am very confident and cannot even wait for my next engagement. I love what I do. One day I read a statement which I have adopted as summarising my purpose, “I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, “Because of you I didn’t give up!”
This is what wakes me out of bed daily, I want to inspire people. This is what drives me to work even harder, because I want to inspire people. This is what pushes me to hold on when giving up is easy, because I want to inspire people. I travel a lot and sometimes it’s even very painful, but I keep going on because I want to inspire people. I have amazing moments to see people’s lives be touched through books and engagements. I have also helped people going through difficult cases and inspiring hope through legal cases. This is my summary and I am happy that God gave me the gift of inspiration.
I continue on this next, do not miss next week’s edition.
Arthur Marara is an award winning author and speaker. He brings life to his audiences and delivers thought provoking talks for businesses, teams, organisations and churches. He is also a passionate attorney who has represented all types of clients from the lowest Courts to the Superior Courts in Zimbabwe. To experience Arthur Marara at your next event, contact +263772467255 or write to him through his email [email protected].
