Stretch Yourself
According to Meriam Webster dictionary, capacity is the potential or suitability for holding, storing, or accommodating. It is also the faculty or power (of a thing, e.g. a factory or individual) to produce, perform, or deploy. In simple terms, capacity refers both to the ability to contain and to produce. We can understand this better when we talk about the seating capacity of a stadium, the production capacity of a manufacturing plant or the supply capacity of a generating set.
I have said on numerous occasions, a 10KVA generator, no matter how well-intentioned cannot power a 10 storey residential building. You’ll need much more generating capacity to sufficiently power that kind of building. In the same way, you cannot successfully build a skyscraper on a bungalow foundation, any such attempt is destined to fail. This is also true about life, you might have SMART ambitious goals, the most inspiring vision, a powerful and well-articulated mission yet not go as far as you should in achieving them if you don’t have the required physical, mental and social capacity to execute them. The importance of growing capacity cannot be overemphasized.
I’m usually fascinated by professional powerlifters; watching the World’s Strongest Man competition gives me chills. These professional athletes lift weights up to 500kg! That’s the average weight of almost 10 grown men. Imagine that. I bet you, I can’t even conveniently lift 100kg. The question to ask is “why so?” It is simply because I have not developed the capacity. Eddie Hall, the strongest man in the world wasn’t born with the ability to lift 500kg. Over time, he worked on himself by maintaining specific diets and consistent exercises to build his muscles and stamina to develop such capacity. You see, to lift heavier weight, you need to grow your physical capacity.
Like physical weights, your dreams, goals and ambitions require certain abilities to execute them. Do you want to achieve the goals you have set for yourself? Do you want to do big things in the year 2020 and beyond? Then you have to grow your capacity. There are three areas I strongly recommend you work on to develop capacity this year.
- Grow Your Mind
Your mind is your greatest asset. I keep saying this, “You cannot solve big problems with a small mindset.” The way your year turns out is largely dependent on your mental capacity. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.” This means that the more you stretch your mind, the more likely you are able to achieve your goals.
- Grow Your Network
An African proverb says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” In reality, if you want to go far in life, you need to surround yourself with the right people. No matter how skilled and intelligent you are, there are tasks that can only be achieved through your network. So you have to be deliberate about growing your network!
- Develop Perseverance
You see friend, some variables critical to the execution of your ambitious goals would be beyond your control. Sometimes, things don’t go as smoothly as we planned and there could be the temptation to be discouraged and give up on your dream. It’s at those times you’ll need to persevere. You need to develop the capacity to stick to the big picture. I call this “Stickability” or “Staying-Power”.
In subsequent articles, I will drill further into these points. I am convinced that if you commit to developing yourself in these three areas, you are already positioned to achieve your goals and aspirations this year and beyond.
Remember, You Have Only One Life to Live, MAKE IT COUNT.
