Be Bold. Be Courageous.

By Mark McKenzie
June 3, 2009

One Sunday morning in December 1997 I was reading the Jamaican Sunday Gleaner when I came across an advertisement in the careers section for the post of Policy Research Officer at the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Although I was not actively seeking new employment opportunities based on the job description I was confident that I had the experience and qualifications to secure the job if I applied. At the time I was employed with one of the major financial institutions in Jamaica in the risk management area. In addition, I was co-opted to the work on the Jamaican Bankers’ Association proposal for the introduction of depositors’ insurance scheme. I was also drafted into high powered subcommittee to make recommendations for the resuscitation of the Jamaican economy which suffered from a severe systemic financial crisis. The truth is I was relatively satisfied with my career. Quite frankly I had not given any consideration to living and working outside of Jamaica. However, something made me applied for the job. About a month or two after I was invited to the Cayman Islands for a job interview. Sometime in March 1998, I received a call informing me that I was the successful candidate for the job. I was made offer which included an option to move to my young family to the Cayman Islands. I had roughly three weeks to accept the offer.

I was very excited by job offer and the challenges and opportunities such a journey would hold. At the same time I was apprehensive and afraid. My life was instantly turned upside down filled with emotional turmoil. I had to make a decision about uprooting my wife and children from their families and friends relocate them in a foreign land. I also had to decide whether I wanted to give up my job in Jamaica. I was afraid and paralyzed by the fear. I was reluctant to get out of my comfort zone. As I struggled internally with the decisions of accepting the job in the Cayman Islands and moving from Jamaica a very good friend of my wife and I told me “Mark, fortune is for the brave!” These are words that have stayed with me for the last ten years. I remember many years ago another very good family friend and mentor told me “Mark, we cannot live our lives in fear!” If we are afraid or if we live in our lives in fear life will pass us by and we will miss the joy of living. The fear of failure, the fear of rejection and the fear of criticism will limit our potential and cause us to under achieve. We therefore have to be bold, be courageous and be different.

In the spring of 1998 I moved my young family from Jamaica, the land of our birth, to the beautiful Cayman Islands. The thought of living and working away from home was trilling. However it was with much trepidation that my family and I left behind the life we knew that was filled and joyous memories with friends and families. I knew if I was going to pursue towards my goals and the goals of my young family I had to forgetting the things behind and stretch forward to the things ahead. As I plunge into the unknown little did I did not know that the single decision accept the job in the Cayman Islands was the start of career in financial sector supervision and regulation and a journey around the world. A journey that has so far taken me across the entire Caribbean region, parts of Africa and Asia. A journey that has seen me touring the Elmira Castle, the Point of No Return, in Ghana . It was also the commencement of an international career working for a number of regional and international agencies, financial institutions and governments and policymakers around the world.

It is journey that has taught me there is no need for us to continuously look at the things behind us when we have whole life ahead. I have heard Joel Osteen said this is the reason a car has a very big front windscreen and tiny rear view mirror. He said it is more important to our eyes on the road ahead while occasionally glancing on the things behind us. It does not mean we forget our experiences or our history which is guide for our present and our future. The ride will have bumps and we will get bruises. We will going through peaks and valleys but we should not let fear, uncertainty or doubt paralyze us.

Life for me has been a purely amazing journey. I remember one day in the 1970s I gave my cousin my shoes to wear to school because I wanted to experience walking bare feet to Huntley All Age School in rural Manchester, Jamaica. At that time I never dreamt that my journey would have taken to some of places I have travelled to and visited and some people I have met and cultures I have experienced. As vicious and as unkind as children can be to each other I had no fear that other students would probably teased me for I walking bare feet to school that day. And here I am today writing about it and do not even recall what happen at school that day.
My experience has taught me that if we are afraid or if we are consumed by fear we will fail to punch our weight, it will inhibit our goals and ambitions and we will be trapped in a "malaise of modesty". We need bold strategies to seize the abundance of opportunities that are available in the world today. To quote Walt Disney “all our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”.

Although I was satisfied with my job in Jamaica, I had a dream that one day I would be on top of my field competing with the best and brightest anywhere in the world. I have big dreams and a big heart. However, I knew if I wanted to be successful, if I wanted to turn my dreams into reality I had to overcome my fears. I had to overcome the fear of failure. I had to be bold. I had to be brave and courageous rather than incapacitated or immobilised by fear. Successful people overcome their fear of failure. Fear incapacitates unsuccessful people. Winston Churchill said "Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts."

On my journey I have learnt that there is no failure but rather an experience from which to learn and grow. Successful people look at mistakes as outcomes or results, not as failure. Unsuccessful people look at mistakes as permanent and personal. As a parent whatever I have learnt is as a consequence of trial and error experience on my part or by others. As humans we learn only through mistakes. We should not impose limits on ourselves or on what we can accomplish in our lives.

The single decision that I made back in 1998 and the road I have travelled since them has led me to where I am today. I am living a dream. In 2006, I made a bold and courageous decision and established Mark McKenzie Consulting. In doing so I had to learn to overcome fear, uncertainty and doubt. It is not an easy journey because along the way, many people attempted to dissuade me off his path. Fear, uncertainty and doubt are the most powerful weapon that will prevent you from reaching your lifetime goals. Fear, uncertainty and doubt are insidious and are often camouflaged or cloaked in messages that are designed to plant the seedlings of self-doubt and thus deter you from your dreams.

Fortune is indeed for the brave and I am finally learning how wealth is created. Ms Maud ’s grandson has achieved some of his personal goals and this has resulted in a sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction. You too can achieve your goal by turning your dreams into reality. However, you have to learn how to identify the obstacles of goal derailment, which primarily consists of fear, uncertainty and doubt. You have to be bold. Be COURAGEOUS!