Challenge yourself

If you look around, you will discover that only a handful of people truly realise their potential.

Many of us fail to maximise our potential for a number of reasons. One of the big reasons is failure to challenge ourselves. I will use the example of Chimwemwe Mangani, a young man that I play the game of squash with on a daily basis since 2011.

Some five to seven years ago or so, Chimwemwe was ranking around seventh to 10th best squash player in Malawi.

Some of us saw some rare talent in him which was not really blossoming. The reason was that he was too comfortable and not hungry enough for success. Chimwemwe did not realise that he had the potential to take the game to very high levels.

One time, we travelled together to Blantyre from Lilongwe for a squash tournament and Chimwemwe performed badly and got no awards yet so many awards were given out. On the way back, we did not mince words. We spoke strongly against his taking for granted the talent he had and wasting the great opportunity he had.

That day, he resolved to begin to challenge himself and to climb the rankings of Squash in Malawi. Within two years, he was a regular in the quarter finals. Another two years, he was a regular in the semi-finals.

Then he started making it to the finals, but losing and coming second. And in recent times, Chimwemwe has come first a couple of times and has wrestled admiringly well with the traditional national champion and the rest of the heaveweights of the game on the local scenes.

It was a gruesome journey for Chimwemwe to reach this level. While many factors contributed to his success, the major one is that Chimwemwe challenged himself in two ways.

First, the mind. It all starts with the mind. Chimwemwe challenged his mind to stop thinking small and to start thinking big. He made his mind believe that he can make it. Any move out of the comfort zone requires a lot of effort and preparation. Chimwemwe committed himself to the challenge by doing the needful.

The second way in which Chimwemwe challenged himself was during the actual games. There was one game a few months ago when Chimwemwe was clearly exhausted but at break he said: “I will die a little more to win this and I will rest later.”

He gave his all, stretching for low and far balls to pick them to make the difficult or near-impossible points. Those are what make the difference for a champion especially if you are an underdog.

We can all learn from Chimwemwe, be it in business, in career and in personal life in general. Are you challenging yourself? This could be in terms of doing better and bigger things in what we already do. It could also by way of starting doing something totally new and different but one that has huge positive impact on us or those around us.

Either way, what you need to do is exactly what Chimwemwe did. First, get your mental work right. Convince your mind that you can do it, challenge your mind. Believe that you will excel at the elevated level. Have no doubt or hesitation but conviction and determination in your mind. Believe that it has already been achieved.

Second, you need to sweat for it. Work hard. Exert effort. You won’t achieve anything meaningful without sustained effort that is applied without hesitation or laxity. Get your hands dirty if necessary. Go into the trenches and sweat.

Overall, remember that a lot of people like to keep to the routine.

Most of them are afraid of being challenged or to challenge themselves. And yet most if not all amazing achievements are a result of setting a stretched target as one’s goal.

Good luck as you challenge yourself and stretch yourself so that you can rise and shine.