Letter to MESS

Ever seen anyone get chicken ready to be cooked? When I was growing up, it was one of my kitchen duties to do this. After the chicken is killed (and don’t ask me about that process!!**%%), you pluck off its big feathers. Soon, you will find a set of smaller ones you need to scrub off. But just when you thought you were through, you would discover the tiny hairy feathers. Almost invisible without a really close look. Problem is, you couldn’t ignore them if the chicken was to be considered as properly ready for soup (or everyone will eat feathers with real meat – yuck).

Why do people struggle so hard to achieve their dreams and still feel unable to touch them? Its as if they never get to the meat – though they have worked hard to get to that dream work environment; dream family; dream home; dream life?! Maybe, and I think often, we ignore the tiny feathery hairs.

The picture of a successful nation, family, business, community is a buzz and hush mix of creature comforts, space, order, consistently increasing development, capacity, ever stretching horizons. Add on safety, peace, lack of criminality and happiness – and no question; there is good success. But this lushness requires a certain dedication that aiming at only the big feathers doesn’t touch.

In my journey of growth, I have discovered that certain seemingly ‘tiny’ factors are as important as the ‘big steps’ we take towards our goals. Because reaching our dreams is so dear to the heart of the myriads moving about every day, I’ve been quietly studying and watching to see what it is that the people who get to where they want to get to, do and experience. Working hard at placing my finger on the veins and arteries that bring success its’ life blood.  By the way, this is a research focus of a great number of people. And the fact that you are reading this tells me that you are a searcher too.

So back to the tiny hairy feathers. These are factors of life that we often ignore in the scheme of things and think that they are too obscure when we put together the plan but! They can easily hinder success.

Let me begin with CLARITY. How clear is your dream to you? Dreams are full of shadowy and fast movements in our hearts. Dreams ran along with our daily lives and we often catch glimpses of them as we move through the day and seasons. So what are the exact components of all the different aspects of the dream? How do you make the vision clear? Let me make some suggestions.

First, whenever you contemplate that dream, tell it to freeze. Don’t allow it to be a fleeting thought in your mind. Like a scene in a movie that you halt, stop and force yourself to look closely at it. Identify the concrete parts within it. Scope the territory you want to get in thoroughly – looking for its individual characteristics. Read material on it. Watch visual depictions of it through visiting similar sites, look at pictures of it or listen to its sounds. They will bring the different aspects to life. Because any future is created, identifying the different aspects of the vision is what will allow you to create all the different parts to a good standard.

Second, don’t assume too much about what you are looking for. There is nothing more frustrating than taking big steps (like getting a loan to sink into a business) and still finding that you are not getting to that place called ‘THERE’ because you had not identified so many aspects of where it was you were going to in the first place. So invest in research. Really ask questions. Don’t worry about being a nuisance. Find out about the territory of the dream. It is necessary for clarity.

Third, mentally ensure you have a plan B for getting to any part of the dream. Is there more than one way for creating it? What are these other ways? Bring the dream closer and closer by demystifying it.

Next time, we will speak about another set of tiny hairy feathers…