When you see someone suddenly begin to succeed beyond imagination, it is often a result of a personal transformation. The success you witness is an outward manifestation of something bigger going on within. Let me explain with two examples.
Gandhi’s Example of Transformation
Gandhi was thrown out of a first-class train compartment in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa because he was colored. That moment defined the rest of his life and that of an entire nation. He went through a moment of transformation. Before that incident, he was an unknown lawyer but after that moment, he became a freedom fighter who eventually shook the mighty British empire to its foundations. That event in South Africa reflects one kind of transformation that people sometimes go through – one in which a massive change in goals take place and those new lofty goals drive transformation.
The Other Transformation
There is yet another kind of transformation that takes place when one doesn’t go through a change in goals as above but goes through such a massive jump in performance that it feels like a metamorphosis. Michale Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team due to sub-par performance. However, he eventually became one of the best players in the world. Sylvester Stallone couldn’t get a film role for a long time because producers thought he wasn’t a good actor; he eventually rose to be one of the most successful actors. History books are littered with stories of this kind of transformation wherein a person starts off with a low skill level but perfects that skill to a world class level and succeeds beyond imagination.
Difference between the two types of personal transformations
The difference between the two types of transformations is that in one the goals remain the same whereas in another the goals change. The similarity between the two is that both involve a massive change in underlying capabilities of a person. Michael Jordan, the NBA star, was not the same person who got cut from the high school team. Similarly, Gandhi the freedom fighter was not the same person who was thrown out of the train. The key difference was the capabilities that both of them developed which resulted in their transformation.
In both kinds of transformations, powerful goals work as a catalyst that can drive someone to greatness due to a constant and purposeful pursuit of them. If you reflect on your own life and background you will realize that your moments of greatness were determined by lofty goals that took hold of you.
The Secret Sauce is Your Goals
So what drives transformation is, simply put, the goals of an individual. Whether it is a nonlinear shift in goals as Gandhi went through or a magnification of goals as Jordan went through, it all goes back to the goals.
Given the importance of goals, it is worthwhile asking yourself whether your goals are transformational enough?
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