I remember what one of my mentors once said sometimes ago, he said "going far with people is better than going fast alone." A lot of people believe that they have to be self-made, but what they fail to understand is that no one achieve milestone success alone. No matter how independent they may be, at some point, they will definitely need the input or assistance of other people. Just to let you know, you cannot realise something great in a vacuum or in isolation, but it demands other inputs. This is why you have to realign your mind to think of success as more of a collaborative thing, than an isolated thing. One of the greatest gifts you will get in your life's journey is the gift of people. So learn how to maximise it.
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It does not matter how talented, hardworking, intelligent, smart you are, your capacity is still limited alone. You still have only 24hours in a day, and you cannot have more than that. But when you act in collaboration with others, you will maximise the limited time that you have. Imagine trying to sweep a room with just a stick of broom, you will try for long, expend a lot of energy, yet end up achieving little to nothing. But when you join other sticks of broom to form a bunch, it will become easier and faster to get the job done. In the same way in life, trying to do everything on your own, or trying to figure out everything by yourself will make you very limited. What collaboration does is to supplement your limitations.
When you view the world in your own single perception, you may not be able to see the blessedness of other people's perspectives. I remember when I was in my internship, there was this task I was given to do. The task began to look too complicated, and even took longer than I thought it was going to take me to complete it. After a while of trying to do it on my own, I asked one of my colleagues for his own opinion and perception. When I did, he shared a very powerful insight with me. From what he told me, I was able to complete the task. Now imagine if I did not ask him, I would have spent so much time and energy without getting the solution. You have to understand that collaboration does not only divide the workload, but it also multiplies the creative output.
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You will agree with me that, no matter how skillful or talented a footballer is, if he stands alone and faces a complete set of team, he will not stand any chance. I once watched a funny video of a footballer. He is regarded as one of the best footballers in the current times, and he was facing a group of teenage amateur footballers. The other team, even though they were largely unskilled, yet they out-powered him because he was acting alone. This happens in life when you want to achieve everything alone.
You have to learn to build a network of mutual resilience. You will agree with me that the pathway to success may include some uncertainties, challenges, and even moments of doubt. When you are alone, these challenges can easily get hold of you and derail you from the path of success. But when you have collaborative help, they will help to cushion the effects of these challenges, and may even provide a solution to them. In a collaborative system, when one is tired, the other will step up to the occasion. Even when one of the teammates loses focus, the other members of the team will pull them back to the track.
It is worthy to note that solo efforts are not sustainable. In fact, solo victories do not always last. Imagine when a vision is entirely dependent on one person. When the person steps away or becomes unavailable, what will happen to the vision? This is why collaborative success is important, because it creates a system that keeps working even when one person is not available. Always remember that true leadership or even true success, is not about creating followers, but about creating other co-creators.
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