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f we took a look at life from the angle of what we can do to make it better, we get entirely different results . In fact, that kind of worldview imposes upon us a higher standard of living. It puts a demand on the visionary to do something greater than themselves.

Let’s be frank with one another and ask this question:

What would you rather do? Live a life with the knowledge of what is required from you or with the attitude of what you can get from it?

The way you and I answer this question determines what belief system we are using to operate our lives. It distinguishes to some level those who are in charge of their lives and those who are not. Probably that distinction I am giving is not simple and straight forward or black and white, but you get the point.

Those Who Dared

To be daring is to stick out like a sour thumb in the midst of popular widely accepted notion.

• The guy who dared declare that the earth was not flat was vilified and persecuted by an institutional church. He was on a dare for he was personally convicted of the truth rather than an opium-like frenzy that engulfed the whole world in a lie.
• The guy who dared declare, “I have a dream” was shot dead a few hours after he also declared, “It doesn’t matter anymore…what will happen to me”. He was on a dare that equality among the races could be a reality. At that time, it was the most impossible thing to fathom.
• The guy who declared, “We must go to the moon” had his name emblazoned on the history books of space exploration years after he had been assassinated with his dream of colonizing space starting to materialize. He was on a dare at the time when it was OK to shrink back and wait.
• The guy who declared “It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die” was imprisoned shortly after for 27 years. He was on a dare that apartheid is an inhuman system that must be resisted and dismantled at all costs. At that time of his agitation, apartheid was a system that was seemingly great and unmovable, and was destined to stay in play for centuries. Still he dared

The Spotlight is on us

When I read these stories of these great cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, I come to ask myself this question:

What will be my dare? What single thing can I dare to change about my life, my family, my circumstances, my environment, my country and my world that as of now looks like it is the most impossible thing to do?

Answering this question I believe gives us tools for impact in life much more potent than a college degree or masters would. If anything, this right here could be a Masters Degree for which everyone in life has a shot at.

I am a firm believer that we were all created to leave this world after a spectacular performance that is the deployment of our full potential and purpose. We cannot afford to be comfortable and fulfilled with amassing “things” around us when we were called for a greater life of substance.

Author and Coach Robert Hagrove puts it this way:

“In order to inspire leaders to make a difference in their world, the breakthrough is to coach leaders to declare an “Impossible Future” that they passionately care about. An impossible future is one that cannot be achieved based on history and can only be realized by leaders reinventing not just their organizations, but themselves.

He further says:

The aspiration to become a Masterful Coach who can help leaders realize an “Impossible Future” and make a difference, whether in the life of one person or the life of all humanity, is one of the highest aspirations of what it is to be a human being”

I could not have said it better. What stands out for me are these word: “the highest aspirations of what it is to be a human being”

So it is incumbent upon us to ask a deep seated question:

What is my highest aspiration of what it is to be a human being?

The answer can only come to the degree that we dare do the impossible. There is a difference between living our lives on a dare and just existing. There is a difference too between living a life on a dare or living an amassing life that just seeks self comfort.

The following, I believe are the benefits we get when we live our lives on a dare:

1. You Grow

If you and I are pursuing the “Impossible Future” we will not attain it by remaining the same, being comfortable with our knowledge and stature. We must by all means grow. I cannot be an advisor to rulers, Kings and Presidents with the same knowledge that I have today. I must of necessity grow in order to attain that “Impossible Future”. So growth comes either as the result of the pursuit, or because of the pursuit.

2. You Stretch Your Potential

Potential is a powerful tool that God gave each of us. Sadly a life of amassing things for ourselves never comes close to helping us deploy our full potential. My definition of potential has to do with the using what we have naturally or otherwise to impact positively the life of someone else in a life changing event. You do not do this with a selfish stance of seeking the goods and looking good. You do this by seeing to do the impossible. As a result, you stretch your limits and deploy your potential.

3. Your Worlds Are Opened Up

You can see a prisoner becoming a Prime Minister in one day because he dared to do the future impossible. This impossible fete was to protect the known  world from famine in 7 years. His world was opened up. Now the prisoner was second in command of the world’s greatest kingdom at that time. When you dare to do the impossible, you will go to places, meet people and learn things that you would otherwise not achieve by seeking a life of getting and amassing. So if you want to go places, saving money and planning trips is one way. The other way though is daring to do the “Impossible Future”, the tickets that it brings are guaranteed, not to mention the Visas, Citizenships and Ambassadorships.

4. You Start Experiencing Fulfillment

You know, life is a mirage. Have you ever desired to be, do or have something so bad but when you attain it, it seems like an anti-climax? You ask yourself, “Is that all there is to life?” This happens to us often for two major reasons. First, we are inherently supposed to grow, so this feeling is an answer to the spirit of growth that we need not camp where we are yet. However, the other reason why we feel forlon after accomplishing something is because that thing was not of substance anyway. Unless we are able to focus on building things of substance in life, fulfillment will be a mirage and always fleeting. Daring to do the impossible helps you to live a life of fulfillment.

5. It Helps You Create A Legacy

Legacies are never built arbitrarily. Legacies are also never built outside of purpose. They are built intentionally, passionately and on purpose. People who lived only for themselves have no legacy even for the very next generation to look at. However, those who lived a daring life will always have a place I the heart of collective humanity. One generation will commend their daring acts to another generation until the end comes.

• Can the world forget Winston Churchill?
• Can the world forget JF Kennedy?
• Can the world forget MLK?
  Can the world forget Nelson Mandela?
• Can the world forget Mother Teresa?
• Can the world forget Rosa Parks

There is no way. These men and women dared to do the impossible.