Likeness (4:26)

Hello Vosi. Hi, I'm Likeness from Tanzania. Firstly, I would like to thank you for being you and being able to motivate and inspire me. Vusi Being a recent graduate, I can see that it has been a tough year for me because I started getting to know more about myself out of the education system, facing the adversities of not knowing exactly what I want, despite of being a bachelor degree holder. I don't think it's ever easy to figure yourself out. But through our education system, education sometimes has been like a responsibility to some of us. Like we just have to make sure we perform well, make sure we get that certificate. But it has not made us aware of what we are really capable of doing for ourselves out of the system itself. So I can say most of us, throughout our education, our education levels, we have been working blindly with no focus, no purpose, not understanding, like what we are going to do with whatever knowledge we have received. It has hit me in a different way this year and I can really understand, like I've been living my entire life not knowing exactly what I am, what I really want to do, and where is my future headed.

Vusi Mtebwayo (6:20)

It's time to take your seat at the table. Find out how with Vositembegwayo as we discuss ideas that matter, a catalyst for bold action. Hello, family. I ever heard of the saying bare minimum doesn't get you the trophy. So if you study all the greats, past and present, across time, you'll find that they all have one thing in common. They went over and beyond what was required of them. Today we live in a generation where there was the allure of easy, the bare minimum, the glimmers, right? It's these stories about entrepreneurs that just have one quick sting and then. But the rude awakening here is that for you to succeed at what you do, you will have to go above and beyond. So why do you need to go over and beyond and how is it going to count to your success today? First, there's a cost, and the cost is sacrifice. You're going to have to be willing to pay that cost. You must understand the mental challenges that come with wanting to perform at a particular level, it's hard, and you have to be able to acknowledge that going over and beyond requires a degree of focus and resilience that changes you. Here's what I want you to take into heart. First, if you're going to perform at a level above and beyond what is expected, you have to be willing to perform at that level whether you're going through the highs and the lows. See, life is not going to stop throwing adversities at you. Your adversaries are not going to stop throwing things at you. You have to learn how to perform regardless of what you're going through. So resilience then is not just the ability to perform and to do well. Resilience is the ability to perform and to do well regardless of the circumstances. That's what true grit is. It's grabbing onto that thing that you want to not letting go. No matter what's at stake, no matter what they say, no matter what you're going through, that's an important thing to remember. The second thing to remember is at the end of the day, you're probably only going to have one chance at this thing you're doing. I'm reminded here of that famous Eminem song, right? You better lose yourself in the moment. The moment you wake the wake up. You better never let it go. You give you one shot. Do not. You know the one that I'm talking about? His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heady. There's vomit in his sweater already mom's spaghetti. He's nervous, but on the surface looks calm and ready to drop bombs. I'm doing that just so you guys know that I. I can also be cool even though I'm vt. But if you are going to do it, whatever it is that you want to do in your life, I guarantee you're going to have to go above and beyond. And the reason you want to go above and beyond is because it's most probable that you're only ever going to get one chance at it, only one shot. And so when that chance and that shot presents itself, you don't want to be in the position where you approach it, you know, half faster, as they say in the expression lukewarm. You want to go in, you want to go in all the way. And then the third thing to remember, I read somewhere that the most important 4 inches in your life are the 4 inches between your ears. Mental health is a very important part of how you show up and how you perform. And you can lie to the world, but you can't lie to yourself. You have to have the ability to not only control how you see the world, but more importantly, control how you see you. Recently, I saw this video of Cristiano Ronaldo, and he's playing a game, and the team that they're playing against, they're 1:1 in, and it's like towards the 90th minute. So the. The game is like, edging towards its ending. And Cristiano Ronaldo's team gets a free kick just outside of the box, right? And they've got this free kick, and it's classic Cristiano Ronaldo. It's that free kick that's slightly off center. And he can, you know, he can do those like Cristiano Ron. He just nails it towards the top end of the, you know, the bar of the. Of the goal posts. But the camera catches him as he stood, as Cristiano Ronaldo does with his feet kind of double, shoulder width apart, looking at that goalpost. And he's talking to himself, and he says, this is what you do. This is your job. This is why they pay to see you. Now get the ball into the back of the net. This is a stadium that probably had about 60,000 people in it. And even then, the cameras were broadcasting to millions of people around the world. And yet, even with the world staring at him, Cristiano Ronaldo recognized the importance of. Of positive self talk. When the moment for performance comes, in other words, even to the greatest soccer player, arguably of our generation, he recognizes that there is the things he says to the world, and then there is the things he says to himself. The problem with a lot of us is we are kind to the world and we are unkind to ourselves. You are your own worst critic. You disqualify you before you are even called into the room. You speak to yourself like you're still that three year old child who didn't know what was happening in their lives. Whereas the rest of the world sees what you've become and the accolades that you have accumulated, the incredible person and adult that you have become. You still see yourself for that small little child growing up in those dusty little streets in that small little part of wherever you come from, who was exposed to the elements and probably comes from a bad background or poor background. You talk to you the worst. It's one thing to say, show up and go over and beyond, but it's quite another to say, show up for yourself and go over and beyond for you, too. And that's my challenge for you with this podcast. I want you to start internal first. I want you to speak kind to you first. I want you to affirm your spirit first. I want you to put your mental health first first. I've seen it in my own life, so I know it's true. When we speak kindly to ourselves about ourselves, it's a crazy thing. But you know what happens? The universe also gets the memo. They open the attachment and then they realize that if you are kind with you, they better be kind with you, too. So that's our podcast for this week. I hope that you've enjoyed it. Cheers. You can send us a WhatsApp voice note about your thoughts on our podcasts on 815-057-double-67. That's 278-1505-7667. We look forward to hearing from you. This podcast was proudly brought to you by my growth fund in partnership with Sound and Sounds Media.