Stop chasing the wind and exploit chances you have

We envy their ability to seemingly have every aspect of their lives simply fit perfectly to complete the jigsaws of their perfect existences.

They have the mark on them and we all spot them from a mile away because they have a blinding halo of joy, goodness and an air of abundance about them. They are calm and self-assured, no matter what situation they find themselves in. Indeed, they know something the rest of us don't. And if we know it too, our knowledge is not quite enough because we must apply it to earn the benefits. If we are still admiring them, we have not applied ourselves much.

These selected few have understood that their best lives lie in living life as a marathon. They do not sprint anywhere. Sprinting does not describe their movements even on those 100-metre endeavours. Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that if you're going win in any way, you must do the work and stick around for long. Long enough for it to pay off. It is passion, and perseverance for the long haul — "Doing the work..." for years. Not trying… Doing. I cannot belabour this enough because we all develop rust around our intellectual joints but this is not the rust that sabotages us. It's the rust in our sub-conscious minds that works against us, mostly.

We all know what the rust is and where it comes from. But of course it is easier, more familiar and comfortable to claim that we don't. I know we are not born with it. Because years ago, when we were little (make that just a few years for me!), we weren't rusty — neither in the joints nor our sub-conscious.

As we grew older and not necessarily wiser, the rust started to develop in all our intellectual joints and finally spread to our minds — the control tower of our every thought which becomes our feeling, translating into our actions and finally transmuting into the reality that we experience as our lives.

It takes most of us several years, even decades of banging our heads against the wall, thinking, feeling and acting the same thing over and over again while expecting different, improved and more satisfying lives. If that’s not crazy, please email me and educate me on what is.

Success in virtually anything isn't about smarts, or about talent, it's about self-awareness and perseverance. We all know more than a few smart people who would not be even remotely referred to as successful, no matter what your definition of success is.

The most comforting part of this is that by accepting this understandably un-palatable truth, we can finally stop wasting our valuable time on those energy-guzzling sprints that we take literally flying like bats from hell bullets across the fields of our lives.

The "shortcuts" that simply cut short the possibility of lasting and replicable success that we are perfectly capable of creating. We don't have to look for much of anything when we understand this.

I watched a story on television; the story was about the man digging a hole in his bedroom searching for "German treasure". I was filled with much sorrow. Not just for the poor guy but the scores of women camping in the neighbourhood waiting for all manner of opportunities once the "treasure” was finally unearthed. Yes, they believe it was coming and no one dared tell them otherwise.

Look; there are no magical answers out there that are hiding under someone's bedroom, for heaven’s sake. I think someone had simply been reading too many treasure hunt books. Even if the old man found a chest full of gold in the now gaping hole in his bedroom and became a Deutshe Mark billionaire overnight, he would still not necessarily arrive at becoming focused serial entrepreneurs continuously achieving whatever they set their minds to. They would still not necessarily give their service without expectation and receive much in return - from all corners of their portfolios.

The sad truth is that we are all digging some hole or another to find treasure that’s buried somewhere outside of us.

Where does your treasure-hunt send you digging holes — your job, family, your church, temple, mosque or under some “holy” tree? No, let me guess; you’re digging into your friends or better still, your wallet. Stop digging.. Look in the mirror. See that being looking blankly back at you? Yes, that’s where your treasure lies.