MOTIVATION - Postage Stamps

MOTIVATION – Postage Stamps


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC September 2009

Bob Proctor says “Be like a postage stamp. Stick until your get there.”

Quotes like this always reminds me of the story that goes something along the lines of ‘there was this chap who went mountain climbing. He went on his own as he enjoyed the solitude and it was his ‘me time’. It was the time that he used to reflect upon his life, to look at the memories of where he had been and where he wanted to go. It was the time that he could empty his head of everything and live in the moment.

Whilst climbing down a particularly steep and dangerous mountain face, a storm arose and before he could get to the bottom or take any kind of shelter (remember he was on a sheer rock face), the mist came in and he could not see anything. He tried as best as he could to climb down very carefully, but after several hours he slipped and fell, holding onto the piece of rope that was attached to a piece of rock somewhere high above. There he was dangling at the end of the rope in the mist and the rain and then to add to his woes, night fell. The man hung on for dear life, he had no way of telling how far down he was, how close to the bottom of the climb he was – disorientated, alone, cold, afraid he faced his biggest fears.

He decided that it was time to Pray “Oh God”, he prayed “Please help me, please don’t let me fall, please tell me what to do”. “Oh God, please don’t let me die, tell me what to do”. Over and over he said the words and over and over a voice inside of his head said – “let go of the rope!” The more he asked what to do, the more the voice told him to let go of the rope and the more he held on. His shoulders locked, his hands locked and he dozed from time to time.

Morning arrived and with it a glorious dawn and clear skies. “Thank you God” the man breathed and as he shrugged his cramped shoulders and hand, he looked down to see how far he still had to go to get to the bottom and found that his feet were dangling about six inches from the ground!”

For me the moral of the story is two fold – stick as the postage stamp until you get there and . . . know when you get there and it is time to let go!

Often we hold on for too long, we get all emotional about the little space that we are occupying, instead of taking the leap of faith and putting our feet forward and taking the next step. As SMME’s and/or entrepreneurs we have already taken that first step or leap of faith. We have all gone in a totally new direction, trusting in ourselves, in our intuition and in our capabilities – we have faced our fears and we have come out the other end triumphant – now is not the time to quit – now is the time to take the next step!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za