LEADERSHIP

THE MIND IS THE

BATTLE GROUND

It is that time of the year again – yes, believe it and embrace it- when we must sit back and ask ourselves if we have given this life, the time, the talents and the resources we have been entrusted with, our fullest potential. It’s truly a tough pill to swallow, but swallow you must, if you are to be honest with yourself and reevaluate the picture in its entirety, rethink what you could have done better and reimagine, from learnt experiences and failures, what the future can look like if you do better and act better.

Many of us tend to worry about what life should look like and what life could have been. We worry about things we honestly don’t have control over. We worry when we should be putting the ideas into plans and actioning that. By the time the year ends we are dejected and feel we have failed, but the question is:

1. “What did you do with your time?” 2. “Were you the best

steward of your time?”

I used to be a terrified little girl who cared what other people would say if I took bold steps and actioned my faith and lived out the dream that was packaged in my body by God. Once I hit my 40’s – yes, now you can guess my age - I decided to define who Alice Dlamini was. I stopped living according to other people’s prescribed idea and philosophy of who I should be. I made a mental, emotional, and psychological decision that I am the breath of God. I am the sum-total of God’s divine desire that conceived me. I have a higher purpose than that which any human can ever utter. Before I was born, God had a dream about my life and who I would be. God’s dream conceived me and wrapped that dream in a body that is me. I am a walking and breathing dream of God through Christ Jesus.

Here’s the catch, I have to do exactly what I am instructed to do every day. I literally have to pause, reevaluate, rethink and reimagine every step and decision daily. I reevaluate if I am still on course. I think and pause every day to rethink through my actions and decisions because there are many moments when I, Alice, run ahead of the One, the Holy Spirit, who has called me. When that happens I know I’m operating out of fear, anxiety and worry. I start listening to the outside noise that tends to throw me completely off course. Worry is a deadly conversation you have with yourself after comparing yourself and your situation with others who are “seemingly” achieving more than you are. It’s a conversation about yourself, about things you cannot change. Worry hinders you from what you want to achieve and succeed in. Worry hinders you from progress.

That’s why I make it a rule in my life to check-in daily, monthly, and annually with myself and evaluate everything against my plans. I rethink and always ask myself

• “what am I doing” • “why am I doing it” • “what am I doing it for”

If I have at any point moved off course – which I often do because I am weak, and it is that easy – I reimagine where I have gone wrong and how I can course correct. In my journey, I have come to understand that all of this requires the collaboration of all of me, all my senses. I know that the battle is in the mind. In Matthew 26:41 even the disciplined of disciples said, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” We want to do great things and achieve much, but temptation and ego get the better of us. The mind is the battle ground. If you are not mentally strong and have the resolve to push past the daily battles - you will fall. Some battles are tougher than others, ensure you’re organized, with a plan to follow and review. God’s Kingdom operates on the currency of faith. God acts on your faith – your mandate is to be faithful to Him to deliver what He promised in your life even though the ground does not look like it will bear the fruit. Obedience is always better that sacrifice – trust me in this one, don’t live in painful regret.

The triple “R” requires an understanding and an awareness of what is required of you from your talents. You cannot reevaluate, rethink and reimagine from a place of “lack”; a lack of self-awareness, self-appreciation, God-awareness, faith, patience, courage, determination and a lack of endurance. Why you ask? It’s about appreciating the importance of understanding your source and resource. What have you been dependent on? What voice are you listening to? What is your why? What is driving it? If it’s from a place of selfishness and self-reliance, then you’re already starting from a place of deficit. As we close off 2022 and head into 2023, you have to live in His promised hope and season for your unique journey. Continuously staying teachable and make it a necessity to open yourself up to growing and enjoying the journey. The journey requires you to take mindful steps. Each step should be purposeful. Don’t think about the destination, the urgency to get there, you will miss the vital lessons if you do. Think what each step in the journey is teaching you. Reevaluate each step, rethink each step and when you feel unsure or uneasy, reimagine each step leading you down the path of righteousness. Every day you have a choice and chance. Put value in you first. Put value in your choices, in your reevaluation, rethinking and reimagining to determine your destination. Don’t become mentally neutral and spiritually numb and emotionally absent because you will become physically bankrupt. Knowing who you are, changes how you live, changes the lens through which you look at life and gives you confidence. Pause: ask yourself, who am I? Reevaluate everything you know about yourself, what people have said about you, your career, projects and endeavors. Rethink what it is that you want based on the “Truth”. Reimagine a great future for you and your loved ones.