The sixteenth president of the United States Abraham Lincoln expressed a universal truth when he said: “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”

A thousand good intentions is not as powerful as a single action and what matters most in life are not the things you think, believe or know but those things you do. Action is incredibly powerful and that one word alone can produce all you need to take you out to achieve your life dreams.

There is so many underachievement in the world today because most people refuse to get off their butts and take positive action. Success as they say is just 10% inspiration… the rest is the 90% of perspiration.

Check your age today and ask yourself – Is there anything you ever wanted to do in your life still a dream today? If there is, ask yourself if you have taken any action towards the attainment of that dream. Most people never have, and never will but you need to understand that this world of ours only respond to people of action.

Nothing works until you work it. Nothing happens until you take action. Invariably, nothing happens unless you make it happen. You are the change your life is waiting for, all you have to do is rise up now and do something towards your intended goal.

You have done enough of planning and analysis. The honest truth is that too much analysis mostly leads you to paralysis. The most successful people in any society are those that just do it like the motto of Nike: “Just Do It”

Think of that one thing you’ve always wanted to do. Think of that one dream you’ve always wanted to translate into a reality and think of that one wish, you wish all the time and take just action towards it today.

A bystander observed Michelangelo as he took a long time retouching every detail of a statue he’d been working on for many days, and asked why he bothered with them. Michelangelo replied; “Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle.”

The greatest enemy of best is good. If you’re satisfied with what’s good, you’ll never have what’s best. (John Mason). The quickest and easiest way to become a high flyer is to do more and then more than is required and then to continue doing it.

One secret every true achiever knows is the power of going the extra mile with tasks. Zig Ziglar wrote; “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” The ability to put in a little more hard work and a little more detail is the hallmark of excellence and life always rewards handsomely men who truly and dutifully do a little more than all others.

“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great Streetsweeper who did his job well.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Thomas Edision said; “Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I will show you a failure.” “There are two kinds of men who never amount to very much,” remarked Cyrus H.K. Curtis to his associate, Edward Bok. “And what kinds are those?” inquired Bok. “Those who cannot do what they are told,” replied the famous publisher, “and those who can do nothing else.”

“Where we cannot invent, we may at least improve,” said Charles Caleb Colton. Find a better way and make that way better. That is the surefire lift to great achievements.

Beethoven composed some of the world’s best music. His handicap? He was deaf. One of the world’s greatest leaders was US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His handicap? He served from a wheelchair.

Wilma Rudolph was born into a poor home in Tennessee. At age four, a double pneumonia and scarlet fever left her paralyzed with polo. She had to wear a brace and the doctors said she would never walk again. But her mother encouraged her; she told Wilma that with God-given ability, persistence and faith, she could do anything she wanted. Wilma said, “I want to be the fastest woman on the track on this earth.” At age nine, against the doctors’ advice, she removed the brace and took the first step the doctors said she never would. At age 13, she entered her first race and came out last. She entered the second race and third and fourth, she kept coming out last until one day, she came out first.

At the age of 15, she went to Tennessee State University and met a coach names Ed Temple. She told him “I want to be the fastest woman on the track on this earth.” Temple said, “With your spirit, nobody can stop you and besides, I will help you.”

The day came. She was at the Olympics where you are matched with the best of the very best. Wilma was matched against Jutta Heine who had never been beaten. The first event was the 100meter race. Wilma beat Jutta and won her first Olympic gold medal. The second event was the 200meter race and for the second time, Wilma beat Jutta to claim the second gold medal. The third event was the 400meter relay and she was again racing against Jutta. In the relay, the fastest person always ran the last lap and they both anchored their teams. The first three people ran and changed baton easily. When it was Wilma’s turn, she dropped the baton. But Wilma saw Jutta shooting off; she picked up the baton, ran like a machine, beat Jutta again and for the third time, claimed the gold medal.

History was made. A paralytic woman became the world’s fastest woman on the earth at the 1960 Olympics.

One of the greatest injustice anyone can do to his destiny is to have a fatalistic approach to destiny and to accept the forces of limitation. Great men realize that to become achievers, one has to become a master at the act of turning scars into stars. Henry David Thoreau said; “What a man thinks of himself; that is what determines, or rather indicates, his fate.”

Never accept limitation. That is a recipe for achievers that never fail to hit the mark.

© Oluwafisayo Akinlolu