THE 10 YEARS CHALLENGE
The social media has been abuzz with The 10 Years Challenge in recent times. What I have observed is a set of photos, usually two like the one above, side by side showing how the individual has changed over the course of 10 years.
I have also seen photos highlighting improvement in social conditions. For instance, I have seen a case where the individual showed himself standing beside a car. Apparently, he did not have one before.
In my view, I think this is a very good thing. For some of us, it would be a moment of ‘great revelation’, a moment of epiphany of some sort – we will discover just how much we have changed – how much we have aged.
This reminds me of the two photos posted by my friend – handsome youngster in one, the other resembling a village chief with snow white beard. Some have even developed pot bellies. Others have gone from all black to all white head, all in a span of 10 years!
However, physical change is involuntary; it does not require our input or permission to take place, it requires no effort. All it takes is the passage of time.
And if all we have is a change in our appearance, and that is where it all ends, then we have just had change without change.
Without a change in our mindset – a change of attitude, we have change without improvement. The old saboteur, with its limiting beliefs, will continue to sabotage our efforts.
Improvement comes when there is a change in attitude, from blaming others for our circumstances to taking responsibility for what life is delivering to us. Real change comes when we break free from limiting beliefs and sense of helplessness.
Yes, real change and improvement come when we stop living our lives by default and begin to live by design.
Now, let me ask very pointed questions: Have you changed? How? Is your life still dogged with the same challenges you faced 10 years ago? Is the same old enemy continuing to dog your every step, sabotaging your effort?
But, if as Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, that we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them, it follows that the same mindset and thinking that created the problem are still present today. We have not changed!
Yes, I have changed significantly physically. For instance, I have a lot more grey hairs that I did 10 years ago. Many more people call me sir now than 10 years ago – an obvious response to the abundant evidence of age. Even my church has appointed me to lead the elders in the whole country where I live! What more evidence does one need?
But the most drastic change, I must say, has taken place inside me. And this has been quite intentional, by design, one might say. It has helped me to identify my great twin enemies – limiting beliefs and poor attitude. I have, without regard to their kicking and screaming, dragged them out in the open and given them a bullet to the head!
And I promise my friends and acquaintances who have not interacted closely with me in the last 10 years the greatest shock of their lives: the only thing they will use to recognize me is my appearance. Why? Because that is where the least change has taken place. The man inside is a New Build!
Let me end this essay by quoting Charlie “Tremendous” Jones …
”You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
I read this in details and was really impacted. God will continue to bless you sir!
Dear Bro. Victor,
You are welcome.
God bless you
Hmm….Thanks for sharing your wisdom sir. God bless.
You are welcome.
God bless you
My mentor sir, this is a bombshell and food for thought. It’s a confirmation that age is just a matter of number, the most important thing is the change in the inner mind. Thank you so much sir for am richly bless by this.
Dear Bro. Ifeanyi,
You are spot on. Age is just a number.
The main thing is what happens in the mind. For, as the bible says, As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
God bless you
What a good write and read. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and the impact it will make to everyone that reads with understanding.
Thank you very much Bro. Leo.
Change accompanied with growth, John Maxwell says, is the only guarantee that tomorrow will be better than today.
God bless you
Wow, I thank God I can boldly say I have changed as my usual friends had to ask each other what is really wrong with him because the real change is Inside which cannot be captured on a picture. Thank you very much, sir, for these words of advice and correction for some of us who supposed have beaten the challenge but have “CHANGE WITHOUT CHANGE.” God help us.
Dear Bro. Julius,
The more change or transformation or growth you experience, the more your friends will change.
God bless you