Getting inspired
The world is full of opportunities… well, at least for those who have gotten a chance in life.
For myself I can say I’ve enjoyed all the privileges of growing up in the western world. I’ve never worried about having enough food on the table, education and all kinds of opportunities were always available. The only thing I’ve worried in life was about what to choose out of these myriad of possibilities, wondering what I will do with them.
What do I want to achieve in life? What do I want to become? What kind of career do I want to pursue? Thoughts that crossed my mind when I listened to Raymond Ledwaba, keynote speaker at the MBA Word Summit 2017 in Berlin.
`I believe that all of us here in this room today, hold a very unique and special place in our society. ´ – Raymond stated. I looked around me and realized that I was surrounded by highly inspiring and very successful people. Some of the smartest and most outstanding personalities I’ve ever met. 100 top students of the world’s best business universities. Every one of them with a great story to tell. All of them with outstanding achievements in their careers.
Being among such a group of world class leadership personalities made me reflect about my own life. I thought about what I have done so far and where I want to go. So far, I have had always focused on becoming successful and learning as much as possible. Studying, working and networking, traveling and diving into different cultures and believe systems.
I observed the audience for a moment. These MBA students worked very hard to get to this point. I felt honored to sit in a room among such a group of extraordinary people. Being able to get to know them and connecting with them, something I considered as a great achievement for myself.
Raymond continued talking about Cape Town – `… a majority of the population live in very dire conditions… with limited service delivery and access to opportunities that can allow them to change their living conditions…´.
Compared to over 90% of unprivileged people on this planet who have never had any chances in life, just because they were born into the wrong place, we are not only successful. We are privileged to be successful. I have gotten the chance.
What would I have become if I was born in such a place? Would I have gotten a chance to be successful? Would I’ve been able to be where I am? – I wondered.
`We need to discover our own mission and either fulfill it or betray it.´ – I followed Raymond’s thoughts about finding our own mission in life. Reminding myself, that everyone of us has an opportunity to make changes in the world, that we can impact others beyond our own life. We are in a position that we can enhance the lives of others. It is just a question of devoting time and effort. Letting the train of thoughts continue some question arose. What have I achieved so far and what is my mission in life? What is all the studying, working, learning and ‘hustling to become something’ for? Why do I want to become successful and what does that even mean for me?
I looked inside myself and tried to answer some of these questions. There are billions of people who haven’t gotten the chances that were given to me because I was born in Germany. I don’t just want to consume all of that without trying to give something back. I want to use my knowledge, abilities, and time to have an impact on the world beyond my own life. I want to see the world changing to a better place, and I want to be a reason why the world is changing. I want to contribute. Maybe not to solve all the world’s problems, but just to do something for people who I can impact. Being a reason that other people can have a chance to what I’ve always taken for granted. Something I’ve always wanted to do but never took the chance because I was too busy, focusing on my own success curve. I have never taken a break to fulfill the mission I have been dreaming about since I was young. Achieving something great for others. A mission worth working for.
Listening to Raymond, who devoted has spent his time to make changes in South Africa I thought: Maybe it’s time to reframe my measures of success and think another way. What have I done for others? What was the impact of my life to the world? What have I done to make the world a better place? What can I contribute to making a change?
In this was the week I found a new mission. In this week the project `DANCE for a CHANCE` was born.
Thank you, Raymond Ledwaba for your inspiring words.
About the author:
David Tang studies Engineering (Bachelor) and Management (Master) in Germany. He has initiated the project ‘DANCE for a CHANCE’ and currently works together with his sister Susi in Philippi to establish the whole project. Furthermore, he supports Amandla Development and CESVI to build the organization to integrate more external supporters.
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