​ON THE PATH OF GREATNESS I

Have you ever imagined a world without telephones, movie theaters, recorded music or even electric lights? Well, the world was no different from that in 1847, when an extremely curious genius was born. His middle-class parents, in the bustling port of Milan, Ohio, had little to no idea, what creative genius they had begotten. The world apparently had not the simplest hint that he was going to light the World. I speak of Thomas Edison, the successful inventor, scientist, and businessman who received over a thousand patents in his lifetime. He was a man of Greatness.

Thinking of great leaders, we think of Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, and Roosevelt. Napoleon and Alexander the Great come to mind when we think of great warriors. Great scientists include Einstein, Edison, Archimedes, and Galileo. We all, in some area of our lives, have people we see as “Greats,” whom we look up to. 

Perhaps you’re already thinking:

• What causes these people to stand out on the horizon of history? 
• What causes them to rise above their contemporaries in our minds? 
• What was it that caused their legacy to enlarge with the passing of the years? 
• Could you possibly be as great or even greater? 
• Could you also possibly take steps that would put you on a sure path of greatness?

 

If this resonates with you, read on.

GREATNESS IS NOT EQUAL TO FAME

There is more to greatness than we often think. I want to explicitly state that greatness and fame are two different things, and that they aren’t prerequisites for one another. There are many other Great Scientists whose findings from preceding experiments actually contributed a great deal to Thomas Edison in his mind-blowing work, yet some of these great men were almost never heard of, and some, not at all.

There are yet other great people who live unknown to you and me in Accra and Lusaka, in Lagos and Banjul. They are parents and church ushers. They are sales clerks and Lecturers. These are people who are not on the media spotlight, but are making impact; these are people who are not pursued by paparazzi, but are fulfilling their God-given purposes. I speak of Great people, who are only known by a select few, but yet are changing the lives of their children, their friends, their communities, and the lives of the few people they come across along life’s way.

Greatness is a quality that endures. It is not an easy quality to define, because it is multifaceted. While some people are great at art or public speaking, others are good at cooking or marketing. But I’m not exploring what a person does as much as I am exploring what a person is and how that person comes to affect the people around him. We’ve all heard the phrase “knowledge is power,” but that is just half of the equation.  There are other principles that all the “Greats” have lived by; there are yet other qualities that all the “Greats” possessed, that put them on a much higher pedestal.

IT ALL STARTS WITH RESPONSIBILITY

All men and women of incredible achievement have understood what we need to understand: that there is only one person responsible for the outcome of your life and the quality of your life, and that person is You. – Dr. Dave Martin

One of the foundational qualities we can admire in the “Greats” is their immense willingness to take responsibility for their own lives and their own destinies. Assuming responsibility in this modern world is not easy; we have been conditioned, by tradition, to blame all others around us for the parts of our lives we are not happy about. Most people want to see change in their lives, change for the better. They want to grow. They want to learn. They want to take the stagnant parts of their lives and revive them. In fact people are so hungry for change that they elected our current president simply because he promised it.
But you cannot change what you’re not responsible for. Taking Responsibility of our lives is about believing that we are the cause of all that we see in our lives today. 

If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.

 – John C. Maxwell

The challenges of life are mostly what become people’s excuses. But the Greats do not make excuses. They accept the responsibility of confronting the challenges in their lives. Believe me, there are a lot of great men out there who had worse lives than you or me. Some of them actually never had quality educations; some had terrible parents and painful childhoods; some were stymied by physical, emotional or even mental handicaps. Yet they overcame their obstacles. When you accept the premise that there is nothing you can do about your plight in life, you become chained to the life you have. You become a prisoner to your circumstances. But your deliverance from all your limitations begins when you admit that your choices and decisions put you in your current situation, and therefore, your choices and decisions can turn things around as well.

Before you go…

Regardless of those things in your life that you cannot control (your family history, your genetic makeup, the economy), you will always have control over three important things. You have control over the thoughts you think, the images you visualize, and the actions you take.

You really want to change the world? First change your life by taking control of these three. The very outcome of your life and the quality of your existence hugely depends on the choices you make about these three.  The Greats have always been men who realized early enough that their lives were 100 percent the product of their own choices, their own work ethic, their own friendships, and their own ingenuity and determination. You can do the same and even greater with your life. Let’s begin by analyzing all the areas in your life where you are potentially falling short. Make concrete decisions about what you’d like to see yourself become in those areas.

As someone aptly summarized, “Apparently, the same sun that melts butter, hardens clay.”

Take ownership of yourself!

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