This is one of the books that has helped me improve on a number things this year like reading, listening, leadership and intentionally investing in the development of all aspects of my life. I found the lessons to be rich and practical for every person. I came across this book at a Bookshop in Lilongwe, Malawi. They were two books, one by Robin Sharma-The Monk Who sold his Ferrari, and the other was about the story of Bill Gates and Microsoft and only had money for one book. Robin Sharma’s book was not my first choice. I am glad that I returned before I left the car park to return the Bill gates book to get this book.

The first lesson that I got from this book is the diversity of priorities and goals. Before, I was caught up in the myth that pursuing one giant goal, mainly career sorts every other aspect of your life. This is a lie. With this book, I learned that goals also cover emotions, material things, physical life and spiritual life. The goals might be fitness goals, financial goals, personal empowerment goals, relationship and social goals among others. Anthony Robbins in his Book ‘Awaken the Giant Within’ extends this point by defining goals to cover personal development, career/business/economic, toys/adventure, and contribution/legacy projects. A person who develops goals and priorities that cover all these aspects of his life start moving towards living a life of purpose. ‘Clearly defined priorities and goals for every aspect of your life will serve a role similar to that played by a lighthouse, offering you guidance and refugee when seas become rough (Sharma, 2003, p. 74).’ The goals have to be followed by an action plan and of course action. This is what will make you as an individual to live a fulfilled life. Why do you have multiple goals? Dr. Ravi Zacharias argues that it’s because man is a multi-sensory being. There is a fulfillment that you get when you reach your spiritual goals, that reaching your physical goals might not give. There is a joy you get when you see a smile of your husband, wife, or kids, that your job will not be able to give. Because we are multi-sensory beings, we need to develop goals for all aspects of our lives, and work on those goals, to live a fulfilled life. Don’t forget to have fun as you are pursuing your goals.

The second lesson is the power of good habits. Your habits determine your destiny. ‘Learned men and women of this world believe that, for a new behaviour to crystalise into a habit, one has to perform the new activity for twenty-one days in a row (Sharma, 2003, p. 87).’ Goals are achieved through routine actions that develop into habits, which lead to the achievement of goals. For example, if your goal is to keep fit you need to develop a health and fitness habit. That is, in your routine, they have to be actions done on daily basis to create a health and fitness habit. This might be healthy eating, physical exercise etc. Similarly, for all those goals that you have set, habits have to respond to that.

The third lesson is the power of focus. I never knew that I am one person who is distracted until when I read this book. In this book, Robin Sharma challenges you to hold one thought for a few minutes. I couldn’t even hold one thought for more than 10 seconds. This has been the case with even my work or everything that I do. Because I am distracted by the name of ‘multi-tasking’ I have not been able to deliver high-quality work. But now that I am learning the power of focusing, I am able to do quality work in a short time. I am also able to live in the moment with people that I am having an interaction with unlike previously where I was physically present but mentally somewhere. And we all know what happens when you dealing with someone who is physically present but mentally absent.

Fourth lesson is master your mind. Your mind is a very powerful tool when it is feed positive vibes. You have to make a conscious decision to feed your mind with positive vibes. I have tried to lay off negativity in my life, and I am able to see that now I focus more on solutions than problems. I complain less, and I spend more trying to figure out or work on the solutions devised to address the challenges at hand. In addition, when I come across negative news, it doesn’t knock me down as much as it used to before I understood and applied the power of a positive mind. You might not control what happens in the world, but you can control when gets into your mind, and what you spend time pondering on in your mind. Robin Sharma challenges us to fill our mind with positive vibes especially the first ten minutes soon after you wake up and the last 10 minutes before you sleep. You will be able to see the difference. For me, I know this means, I don’t have to touch my phone or switch on the TV first thing in the morning because I am sure that good news is not likely going to be the thing I will find on social media or TV.

The fifth lesson is respect of time. As people, we have to learn to respect our time and other peoples’ time. How you deal with time displays respect or lack of respect for others and yourself. In fact, people will respect you more when they see that you value and respect your time and their time. Respect for time goes with discipline. To respect time, you need to be disciplined enough to go with the plans that you put in place. If you allocate that you will be in church from 9am-12 noon, it takes discipline to stay in church during that time and also be physical, mentally and spiritually present in that space. Robin Sharma writes ‘being an excellent time manager doesn’t mean that you must become a workaholic. On the contrary, time mastery allows you more time to do things you love to do, the things that are truly meaningful to you (Sharma, 2003, p. 162).’ There is one major reminder and lessons that I got from this chapter ‘Never forget that time spent enriching your non-work hours is never a waste. It makes you tremendously efficient during your working hours (Sharma, 2003, p. 163).’ The other key lessons on the same are: Don’t let others steal your time; and Don’t pick up the phone every time it rings.

Sixth less is embrace the present. Live in the now. Never sacrifice happiness for achievement. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Make the decision to spend more time with those who make your life meaningful. Revere the special moments. Small victories lead to large victories. Start today, learn more, laugh more and do what you truly love to do. Today matters. When you have a positive mindset, goals and priorities in place, and you live in the present, you are assured that you are going to be a happy person. Remember to be grateful always.

The final lesson is to selflessly serve others. Daily acts of kindness have a way of making life richer. When you serve people, you get a sense of fulfillment. When you serve people, you make the world a better place. Imagine how you felt that day when a random stranger was kind to you. How about people within your circle. Make it a point to be kind always. Yes! The World is rough and has people that do not deserve your kindness. But do it anyway.

References

Sharma, R. (2003). The Monk who sold his Ferrari. Toronto: Jaico Publishing House.