Last Wednesday I delivered a speech titled “Success” to an enthusiastic group at the Centre of Education and Training in Brampton, Ontario. I opened my speech with the following quote:
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
Then I said,
Success belongs to those:
a. with a clear vision and specific goals
b. willing to lose fear, willing take action and have a fierce desire and determination to succeed
c. who foster positive and meaningful relationships
After the delivery of my speech Cal Lockhart, a retired engineer, wrote me the following note:
“I really like your inspiration. You transmitted it to the group. We are inspired to succeed. Well done!”
Today I have decided to share with you a bit of my speech. The title of my blog post is deliberate. I believe I have a duty and responsible to encourage especially the youths in our communities to have big dreams, remain positive and to be influence only by those who are productive members of our communities. We should reject greed, violence and hatred which have no place in our communities.
Success does not come overnight. Success takes time. To be successful we all need a strategy, whether in business or in our personal lives. A strategy is merely a tool or plan on how you get from your current position to your desired goals. Do you have a plan for your life? If you don’t how do you intend to succeed in life? How will you know when you have achieved your goals?
At the start of 2014, I had two simple yet somewhat related goals which I stated publicly in previous posts on McKenzie’s Voice. They are:
1. I wanted to complete all the credits and requirements for the Distinguished Toastmasters Award from Toastmasters International.
2. I wanted to break into the professional speakers market.
Mission accomplished! In May 2014, I was received the prestigious Distinguished Toastmasters from Toastmasters International for outstanding accomplishment and leadership excellence. Last Thursday, October 23rd I spoke to a group of approximately 300 grade 6 students at the Sunny View Middle School in Brampton. Let me repeat….mission accomplished!
As I wrote on the Toastmasters District 86 Facebook wall last week, I consider my accomplishments monumental and memorable because they occurred concurrently with Toastmasters’ 90th Anniversary. In 1924, Ralph C. Smedley held the first meeting of what would eventually become Toastmasters International in a basement in a YMCA in Santa Ana, California. He began working as director of education for a Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) after he graduated from college. He observed that many of the young patrons needed “training in the art of public speaking and in presiding over meetings” and he wanted to help them. Ralph C. Smedley merely had a dream. He could not have known that 90 years after people like myself and hundreds of thousands of others our lives would be so transformed and enriched by his vision and mission.
How can you succeed?
Here are my three tips for an independent strategy for individual success:
Clear Mission and Specific Goals
You need to have a clear mission and specific goals. My passion for speaking was ignited way back in the 1970s when I heard the late Michael Manley, former prime minister of Jamaica spoke. He was charismatic and eloquent. I also listened to recordings of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” In essence the seeds of my dream as speaker were planted decades ago in the 1970s. However, it was not until about 15 years ago I took the first step to make my dream a reality when I first decided to join Toastmasters International.
Where are you in your life? To succeed you need to build a bridge from where you are today to where you want to be. You need to embark on a mission of discovery that is the process of uncovering your purpose—what you want and why. Purpose takes the form of a mission, a vision, goals, and objectives. As mentioned above success takes time. It requires patience. You should not be in a hurry to succeed. Success cannot be accomplished in hastily.
Don’t be hindered by fear
I cannot over emphasise that fear and naysayers are the number one killer of dreams. In my speech on “Success” I made the point that I know I am not the best speaker in the world. In my professional field as a financial services specialist I also know I am not the best. However, I have the courage and the willingness to take action to make my dreams a reality. I have a fierce desire and determination to succeed. For example to receive the Distinguished Toastmasters Award from Toastmasters International, I agreed to be appointed Area 67 Governor in Guelph, Ontario which is about 45 minutes away from the City of Brampton where I live. As a speaker I agreed to share to my experience as an immigrant to 300 grade 6 students as part of the Ontario Public School Grade 6 Social Science Curriculum. For my work I have gone to countries to that most people only read about in their local newspaper or seeing on the evening news. I stories and experiences to share about different places, food and cultures. Yet I am continuously engaged in activities to improve my skills, knowledge and experience. I am receptive of positive and effective evaluations and feedback.
What are your fears? What are your dreams and goals? What actions have you taken to accomplish your goals and success?
Foster positive and meaningful relationships
The key to success is winning and maintaining relationships with people. Every successful executive and entrepreneur will tell you, their most important asset is people. In an era of Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media it is easy to lose sight of the criticalness of connecting with people outside of the virtual world. When opportunity knocks, it's always a person knocking or answering.
Fostering positive and meaningful relationships is one of my key factors for success. Your friends or relatives can provide important leads to career or business opportunities. They can also play important role in providing you with ideas for improvement.
For me, relationships are like watching grass grows. You plant the seed in every relationship with trust and honesty. For a time you may not see anything happening but one day you wake up to a beautiful lawn. Building relationships and a successful careers or businesses business career is just like that. Fostering positive and meaningful relationships is like a leap of faith or delayed gratification. Eventually it flourishes into something beautiful and lovely.
What is your strategy for success?
Mark McKenzie is a leading Subject Matter Expert in financial services regulation and supervision as well as a professional motivational speaker, corporate trainer and youth mentor. He can be contacted by email mastbmckenzie@gmail.com or by telephone 647-406-4622. Read my blog http://mastbmckenzie.blogspot.ca/ and always write me a comment and share. Follow me on Twitter @mackynacky. Connect with me on www.youtube.com, Google+, Facebook and Linkedin.
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