A champion’s heart in the new year

BY OLUSANYA ANJORIN

Some of us dodged the Christmas celebration due to certain reasons but New Year celebration can’t be avoided. The Champagne may not be flowing, the apple juice may not be available, the Coca Cola bottles may not even be tipping one another but surely a celebratory meal is important.

As you start a new year, having the heart of champion and never allow the glow of a fresh year to wear off is a great way to start your year.

But really, what is the heart of a champion?

The heart of champion displaces failure from its way. The heart of champion is a conqueror, loaded within it are its visions, goals and dreams. The heart of a champion rises above the ordinary to be extraordinary.

The heart of a Champion does not depend on the amounts of money and resources available at the moment but rather about the determination and hard work to get the desired result. He is assured that he will triumph tomorrow though he may be an underdog today.

A champion does not always seek fame and praises . They hone and mould their skills until they find themselves on top. The heart of a Champion is always on the field hitting the hot iron consistently. He knows that a freshly cut mushroom went through mud before sprouting from the ground.

Sugar Ray Robinson said: ‘’To be a champion you have to believe in yourself when no one else will.’’ A champion’s heart takes calculated risks that will certainly pay off in the end . A champion heart is a striving heart that consistently aspires for greater things. They are perpetually dissatisfied with themselves. One of the most common reasons why people don’t strive is the fear of failure. There is no one that has ever succeeded without having failed initially. J.K. Rowling’s ( the author of the Harry Potter series) life was not peaches and cream. She struggled tremendously. In 1992 she moved to Portugal to teach English where she met a man, married, and had a daughter. In 1993, her marriage ended in divorce and she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland to be closer to her sister. At that time, she had three chapters of Harry Potter in her suitcase. In 1997 and 1998, the book won awards from Nestle Smarties Book Prize and the British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year. After that, it was one wild ride for Rowling. Today, Rowling has sold more than 400 million copies of her books, and is considered to be the most successful woman author in the United Kingdom.

Winston Churchill captures it aptly when he said that “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” A Champion’s heart questions the impossible. They are always pushing forward for new frontiers challenging the status quo until answers are found. In other words, a Champion’s heart is endlessly inquisitive, creative and innovative. They are always searching for new insights, original thinking and thinking anew.

A Champion’s heart is self-disciplined. They know that it is not the number of hours they put in that matters, but the discipline they engage in laying aside pleasures to concentrate hard on their improvement. Even in moments of merry-making and excessive feeding. He keeps a single and focused mind.

The question is, how can you cultivate the heart of a champion?

The hearts of the champion hang there when there seems to be no hope. It therefore requires character. Zig Ziglar put it this way, ‘’ Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passed. ‘’ The heart of the champion therefore is filled with faith knowing they can achieve the dream they are after. The heart of a champion is persistence; it is these unshackled belief that makes them stuns the globe. And you may heard people say, ‘he is a genius,’ ‘he is born great’, ‘wow, he is greatly talented.’ More often than not, we are unaware of the the price that the champion pays to obtain the prize.

The heart of Champion steps forward irrespective of challenges. A quitter, quits when things are hanging in the balance, when they are uncertain. A lot of us makes mistakes by thinking that champions are not fearful, no they terms with the fact that the courage lies not in acting without fear; but in acting despite fear. The demarcation between the champion and the failure is the preparation for failure. They are able to live with failure as well as enjoy success.

The heart of champion is filled with compassion. They are motivated by a sense of obligation to others as well as the will to succeed for themselves. For example, Bill and Melinda Gates have done so much for Africa by donating for her development.

Is it easy to become a champion?

Irrespective of any discipline, you found yourself in, being a champion is not a kiddies game. It takes determination, practice and discipline. The heart of a champion has a Siamese tie with Commitment which is the ability of not giving up till victory is achieved.

There are several obstacles a champion faces ranging from indecision, fear, procrastination and insecurities.

I will discuss briefly what fear is all about and how you can conquer it. Fear is a terror seeking to keep you from being a champion. It is often said that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Let’s look at some of these fears; fear of rejection, fear of speaking in the public, fear of what people will say and the fear of the unknown.

At the start of the New Year when some of us have de clutter our homes and decorate them with new ones, you must learn to confront fears headlong and as you confront it, insecurities disappear and confidence appears. Ralph Waldo Emerson appropriately puts forth properly when he said, ‘’ Do the thing you fear and death of fear is certain.’’

I will conclude by saying that when you want to be a Champion like kilode (as much as possible) you have to be ready to be heated like gold kept in the furnace of fire to get the desired product. Happy New Year!

Anjorin, an inspirational speaker, columnist and entrepreneur and can be reached at [email protected]