Discover your greatness: Mind the Gap!

"The key to success is to keep growing in all areas of life - mental, emotional, spiritual, as well as physical" - Julius Erving Oftentimes the challenge in life is not just to have a dream, or discover your niche.

However, it is what you do progressively and continuously towards achieving the dream that matters the most. Knowledge of the unpleasant distance between where people are presently in life and where they wish to be is what frustrate them.

So how do you bridge the gap and remove this frustration? What are the necessary and progressive steps you need to take; in order to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you wish to be? And can ignoring this gap cost you in life? These are some of the few questions this article will address.

“Mind The Gap” is a safety instruction used on the Underground subway in the UK to caution passengers to be cautious when getting on and off the underground train; since there is quite a distance between the train and the platform.

Similarly, as human beings destined for greatness in our individual endeavors or callings in life, we need to be cautioned occasionally to mind the gap between where we are currently vis-à-vis the dreams, aspirations, hopes, plans and the destination of our lives. Mind the gap!

Earl Nightingale, an American motivational speaker, and author, who was referred to as the "Dean of Personal Development," said, “Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach”.

Legendary American basketball player and coach, John Robert Wooden was convinced that, “It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.” Great people have dexterity in this angle, in that, they understand the principle of continuous development or learning after they are even deemed “experts” in an area.

Lasting success in any endeavor in life requires “minding the gap.” “Every now and then I like to pick up a copy of Time magazine and read every article from beginning to end, not just the articles that interest me most, (but) that way you can be certain to learn something you didn’t know previously,” admits Bill Gate, American business magnate and co-founder of personal-computer software company giant Microsoft.

See, human beings were created to be progressive in our developmental stages— psychologically, physically, and spiritually—and the moment the growth process halts or there is a gap in any of these three main areas of the human components, death commences. Japanese Athlete and a martial art expert, Morihei Ueshiba affirms this by saying, “Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.”

Studies show that in United States of America, 1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives, 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college. 80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year. Though this study is not universal, it shows how dormant we become after graduating from school, a trade, and in so many ways after we have hit the summit of the “Mount Everest “of our aspirations in life.

The challenge in life is not getting to your greatest dream but to maintain and keep on growing or yearning for improvement after you have done it all. A Chinese Proverb says, “Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.” Stagnation in life is dangerous to the human body, soul, and spirit. Bear in mind, you were created only to keep growing in every facet of the human endeavor and anytime growth is stifled or impeded in any area, you start dying. Therefore, mind the gap!

What are you doing to “mind the gap” as a seamstress after 10 years of graduation from your trade? As an auto mechanic, what are you doing to keep abreast of the technology that is evolving in your practice? As an accountant, financial analyst, banker, lawyer, engineer, medical practitioner, technologist, what developmental measures have employed to assist you to be the best in your field of endeavor?

What strategies are you applying as a Politician, a Pastor, a Community Leader, a Parent, a Husband or Wife to address the current economic, moral, and relational gaps in your house, community or nation? As an employee what steps are you taking to ensure security in this unforgiving job market? What are you doing to improve yourself in this age of rapid economic transformation where no job is for life?

As an entrepreneur or business owner what cutting-edge and creative measures have you employed to keep you relevant in this stage of history where big, fat, multinational businesses are swallowing up small businesses? Mind the gap!

Mind the gap, because if you are not careful, the gap between where you are and where you are supposed to be would render you redundant in the affairs of life. The evidence of this is not too far from where you live. Consider how many businesses have folded up within the last 2 to 5 years. Small and big businesses— financial, manufacturing, technology sectors, commercial shops, etc.

Also, deliberate on families who have fallen apart because no one was “minding the gap”; individuals whose life are in shambles because they once thought they were too successful to fail or too big to fall. No one is immune from the vicissitudes of life but with a clear vision of our purpose, diligence, persistence, and the discipline to focus on your goals in whatever sphere you find yourself in life, you would attain greatness.

Parable From A Plane Between an airplane and every other form of locomotion and transportation, there is one great contrast. The horse and wagon, the automobile, the bicycle, the locomotive, the speedboat, and the great battle—all can come to a standstill without danger, and they can all reverse their engines, or their power, and back up.

But there is no reverse about the engine of an airplane. It cannot back up. It dares not stand still—if it does it will crash. The only safety direction for the airplane is in its forward and upward motion.

Likewise as human, the only safe direction we have is to keep developing—to keep moving forward and upward. Because the moment this progression halts, death automatically begins. In his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, leadership guru and author, John. C Maxwell put forth some life changing principles in regards to minding the gaps in our lives.

The following are few excerpts from the book: • The law of intentionality: Personal growth is intentional. You have to grow on purpose, not by accident. Sadly, a good percentage of people in our societies today, leave their physical, psychological, and spiritual growth to chance. Growth is never automatic but intentional. You have to resolve to grow and act on your resolution. Only then can real growth be initiated. It is said that, “Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.” Hence, mind the gap!

• The Law of Modeling: It is hard to improve when you have no one but yourself to follow. Success in any field of endeavor requires a good idea of what you want, a plan of how to realize what you want, and an ideal (model) of what you want. In other words, you have to see (from an example) and learn how it is done in other to improve upon it. Why reinvent the wheel when you can build on what already exist and make it even better?

• The Law of the Rubber Band: Growth stops when you lose the tension between where you are and where you could be. Most of life’s failures, challenges, frustrations, disappointments, and pains occur during our attempts to progress from where we are to where we could be. So, on the flip side, when we mind the gap by doing what is required of us in our current position, we are better equipped to face and overcome the inevitable obstacles we are bound to encounter in this quest to be where we want to get to.

• The law of consistency: Motivation gets you going, but it is discipline that keeps you growing. John Maxwell defines discipline as the bridge between where you are and where you want to be. Minding the gap is not an occasional thing. It is supposed to be done always. You have to be consistently persistent in your approach to life if you really what to finish well. American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn affirms that “Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.”

• The law of curiosity: Growth is stimulated by asking why. It is only when you ask questions that you learn something. So beware: if you give answers, you learn nothing if you ask questions you learn something.

American Poet and Writer, Nancy Willard argues that “Sometimes questions are more important than answers.” French Philosopher and Writer, François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume “Voltaire”, also believes that “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” Curiosity is the key to lasting innovation and creativity. When you stop probing yourself and life of new possibilities, you gradually become relevant and insignificant in life.

Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen Fund in her book, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World asked this thought provoking question, “Why do some people stop growing at age 30—just going from work to the couch and television—when others stay vibrant, curious, almost childlike into their nineties?"

I believe the answer is simple: those who stay vibrant and keep growing, even in their latter years take the initiative to continuously develop their mind, body and soul. Read a book, upgrade themselves holistically - mental , physical , and spiritual , travel to another part of the country or the globe- to learn new experiences, become part of a cause to change a life, take up jogging or dancing or new interest in life —whatever you decide to do, let it improve your mind, body, and soul.

Do something that will keep you relevant in today’s dispensation and significant in tomorrow’s world. No doubt challenges will come; competition will hit the job market and businesses (big or small), the economy will fall (or grow)—times may not always be favorable to the realization of our dreams and aspirations.

But with the intent to grow and succeed, a good role model to look up to, a conscious effort to keep moving (only) forward consistently and persistently, and a curious mind, your effort would eventually be rewarded. "Growth demands a temporary surrender of security. It may mean giving up familiar but limiting patterns, safe but unrewarding work, values no longer believed in, and relationships that have lost their meaning," in the words of leadership guru John C. Maxwell. Keep growing and always mind the gap to discover your greatness!