translate-knowledge-into-action

Translate knowledge into action Saturday, 12 May 2012 16:18

Arthur Marara The great end of learning is not knowledge but action.

It is not enough just to have knowledge. You can have all the books on motivation, all the books on success; you can listen to all tapes, DVDs, CDs on success, but if you do not take action, you will not go anywhere.

Do not just count the number of books that you have read, count the progress in your life also. I am not discouraging anyone from reading. I am encouraging reading that is accompanied by progress. Thomas Alva Edison once said something that is very fundamental, “Motivation without action is hallucination.”

Your thrust should be knowledge complemented with action. There is nothing that will change in life until you take action to change it.

Knowledge is not power It has often been said knowledge is power. If this was true, we would not be having some people with PhDs living in abject poverty or misery. This is the reason why some people can teach on business management but fail to manage their own businesses or their own lives.

Some people can also be excellent marriage counsellors but their own marriages are crying out for help. The point is simple: knowledge is not enough. Knowledge is not power; it only becomes power when it has been exploited. Use the knowledge that you have and transform your life.

Money is only powerful when it has been used. What information have you gathered? What are you doing to make the knowledge work for you? You can know your legal rights, but if you do not take the procedural steps to enforce them, you will never benefit from them.

Have the discipline and confidence to begin It has often been said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. You need to have the confidence to take the first step in life. There is an advertisement which I like so much of a bank that has a very interesting motto, “Things do not happen on their own, make things happen.”

What do you want to achieve in life? What are you doing about it? Gather the confidence to begin in life. It does not necessarily mean that you will succeed on the first step, but with several mis-steps in the right direction you will surely go somewhere. Anthony Robbins once said something profound, “Action is the foundational key to all success.”

Plan your action

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Translate knowledge into action Saturday, 12 May 2012 16:18

Where planning is absent, failure is inevitable. Have a plan of action that will guide you. If you are in business, how do you intend to execute your goals? How do you intend to implement your marketing plan? How do you plan to promote teamwork amongst your employees? What are you going to do to ensure that you are faithful to the plan of action? If you are a student, what is your plan for studying? Prioritise organised action. There is a great difference between motion and production. Opening a book is not the same as studying. Your thrust should be on production. This will help in ensuring that you utilise your time effectively as well.

Have the discipline to finish Anyone can start a race but only a few can finish it. There is more honour in finishing the race than just starting it. The key component of success is the ability to hold on till the end. No one was ever paid for starting a job but for finishing it. The great Apostle Paul emphasised this principle in his letter to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”(II Timothy 4:7-8).

Nothing meaningful would have been achieved on this planet if all people chose to leave whatever they would have started unfinished. If Edison had decided not to complete his vision, would we be having the modern light bulb? If the Wright Brothers had decided to shelve the plans on the aeroplane, how would the world have turned out? Would we have the vacuum cleaner today if James Dyson had chosen to throw in the towel or simply shelved the idea of th e invention?

There is one man among many who inspires me a lot, John Stephen Akhwari, a Tanzanian athlete. John participated in the 1968 Mexico City Games. He was involved in a race which was very difficult in which most people got injured. It is believed that some people actually died in the race. He finished last among the 57 competitors. It is believed that 74 people had begun the race. During the race, he fell and badly cut his knee and dislocated a joint. Despite the fact that he had been injured, John gathered himself up and continued with the race.

There is no better justification to quit a race than on the grounds of injury. This was not the case with John.

Even though John knew that someone had already won the race, he continued to run, going into the “empty” stadium. He was even struggling since he was worn out. He slowly managed to reach the end of the race. Journalists could not wait to take photos of this man. The few people who had remained behind were very surprised by this bandaged man who was still running.

One journalist among many who came to interview him had the audacity to ask John why he

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Translate knowledge into action Saturday, 12 May 2012 16:18

had continued with the race when he knew that someone had already won it. Akhwari looked surprised at the question. Then he simply said: “I don’t think you understand. My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish it.”

John understood something profound; his mandate was to finish the race and not to just start it.

Even though he might have had justification not to finish it, he resolved not to give up. He ran to the end. John had a way of encouraging himself, which enabled him to do what most people could not have done. Devise ways of encouraging yourself. In the case of John Akhwari, people would not have found any reason why one would continue with the race. John’s conviction and determination encouraged him to finish the race, and, at the end of the day, he even secured a place for himself in motivational books and not to mention history books.

John managed to win himself the title of “A King without Crown.” In 2000 he was invited to the Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He also appeared in Beijing in 2008 as a goodwill ambassador in preparation for the 2008 Games.

You need to ask yourself the following questions: How many things have I started in life and how many things have I finished?

Discipline yourself to finish what you start. If you have not finished something, continue from where you left from. I have encountered a lot of people who started various projects but could not hold on to the same because of one reason or another. There are many wonderful books that are abridged into small notebooks because there is someone who does not want to finish what they started.

There are various music albums that are laid hidden in suitcases waiting to be finalised. There are poems waiting to be published but can never see the light of the day if someone does not want to finish what they started. The list of the various cases is endless. There is nothing that God impresses upon you in your heart by coincidence. God knows that certainly you can make it. This is the reason why you have to hold on and fight to the sweeter end.

The fact that someone started exactly what you wanted to do should not discourage you from pursuing your vision. You can certainly be the same thing in a different way. Do not give up because someone has won the prize. Like John Akhwari, gather the momentum to move on and finish what you would have started. Your mandate in life is to finish the race. Losers are potential champions who have decided to give up. Finish what you start, do not abort the vision.

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Translate knowledge into action Saturday, 12 May 2012 16:18

- Arthur Marara is an attorney, author and motivational speaker. He is also the chairperson of the Greatness Clinic Trust. Send your feedback to info@greatnesstrust.

com or join him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.

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