Nelson Mandela was one of the most memorable initiators in history. He was a genius at taking his impactful ideas and then making them happen despite the odds.
Of late, I have been doing lots of thinking about the concept of initiation or, how to make stuff happen. Having hit a point in my life that is either sink or swim for me and my children, you would think that this is a no-brainer but it isn’t. I am good with making decisions but not always reliable on getting into gear to action those decisions. This might sound familiar to you too? This got me started on a quest to explore the concept of initiation.
Initiation is the process of starting something, getting the ball rolling. It’s an important concept because without it, nothing gets off the ground. Instead, what we have are good ideas living in our head. In life and in business the difference between being a winner or loser is initiation and initiation is the difference between a ‘doer’ and a ‘gonna’ in health and fitness.
The 18th of July is Nelson Mandela International Day. By any standard, Madiba, as he was fondly referred to by those who loved him, lived a robust, fulfilling and revolutionary life. Few people have had as much impact on history as Madiba had. History will remember him as one of the greatest men who ever lived – an incredibly selfless man who made so much of a sacrifice to re-write the history of generations of South Africans and the World.
During his lifetime Mandela inspired us with his numerous words of wisdom, etched in our memories till tomorrow. Here I share with you what Mandela taught me about initiation:
1. “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again”
The number of times I have gotten up from a setback reflects the extent to which I am congruent with my values and my purpose. Procrastination is the opposite of initiation. If we have a vision, a purpose that is big enough, we will keep initiating new ways of reaching the success we have in mind and ward off procrastination.
2. “When people are determined they can overcome anything”.
Initiation and intention are intimately intertwined. If you are having trouble taking action on your decisions or outcomes, question your intentions, i.e. the reasons why you want what you want. If you don’t have enough reasons or the reasons aren’t big enough then you are likely to lack the determination and initiation to overcome the inevitable obstacles and detours that may crop up on your journey to your goal.
3. “There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way”.
My mentor explained to me that initiation doesn’t mean we know how to do it. It just starts and it doesn’t have to be perfect or right, it just starts from where we are at. There is a confidence that we will figure it out as we go, in the moment improving as we go along.
4. “Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do”.
When we go for it, get started, take action we ask the critical questions:
What’s the first step? What can I do now with what I do know?
Am I committed to my vision? Am I resolute about my purpose? Am I devoted to my goal? Do I have a staunch belief in myself achieving this outcome? Do I have an attitude of resilience in the face of setbacks?
If you can say a robust “Yes!” to ALL of these questions, then your intention is aligned with your aspirations and you are the type of person that has initiation down pat! If there are a few that you didn’t do that for, your initiation could do with some fine tuning. Get together and work with a Life Coach, Business Coach, Health Coach, Leadership Coach to clarify and support you in developing your blind spots and rev up your initiation.
Sarah is a Senior Coach at Equilibrio and works with professionals, business owners and senior managers who are keen on experiencing the gratifying rewards of dove tailing their professional and personal lives. Sarah also works with stress related chronic ill health.
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People from all walks of life engage Equilibrio’s personal life and well-being services. Our youngest client has been aged 10, and our oldest has been aged 82. We work with individuals, couples, parents and families.
In addition… what i have found useful is to keep in mind ‘death’ as an away-from motivator. Death will take everthing away, this moment is all that there is – so take action now and squeeze the juice from this moment such that at the end of the day you say to yourself, “This has been the best day of my life”. And at the end of the year you say, “This has been the best year of my life”. This approach has been immensley useful in keeping me moving forwards in the face of adversity – and the amazing thing is that it does work and life just gets better and better – and the last few years have been the best of my life.
I love that Abby! Similarly, I use the attitude of ‘no regrets’ when faced with a choice or decision. It usually gets my ego out of the way and things work themselves out for the best.
There is MUCH I could say, so I’ll be succinct.
I live each day as if it’s my last, because I never know when I will have to fly Malaysia Airlines!
Thank you Sarah for sharing this article. It provoked some thought for me and how I am responding to personal life challenges and here are my biggest take aways from you sharing. I like how you highlight the importance of resilience, keep on getting back up whenever you fall and to trust in your own intention and be willing to genuinely and authentically follow your highest expression and passion in each moment courageously, knowing that others may have a different opinion. Also a reminder that confidence only comes through practise and refinement 🙂 Again thank you, I love your work. Yvette
I’m pleased for you Yvette. I trust that this will also lead you to put in motion whatever you need to move forward.