Quotes by Archibald Marwizi

Even if you are counted amongst the best, you will slip into mediocrity by remaining comfortable being the worst of the best. You might be relevant, but because your level of effectiveness is in the bottom tier and your impact minimal – you will soon become obscure as your relevance begins to wear off.

Shift from mediocrity to excellence. Mediocrity and Excellence are like jealous suitors fighting for a partner and competing to please him/her, to the extent they do all they can to reproduce in sets of twins. Mediocrity gives birth to Irrelevance and Obscurity, whilst Excellence breeds Relevance and Significance. These sets of twins cannot inhabit the same life, only one compatible pair can co-exist.

Review and question what you already know or have. In most ball sports and games, you confirm whether you have scored by checking whether the ball has gone into the goal or hit its target. So evaluation of results means that you must look at your goal to see if the ball has hit its target. Look at your educational aspirations or dreams and say “am I on track to meet my 2020 PhD target?

Make adjustments and improvements to enhance the effectiveness of meetings or surpassing of your target. Learn to define, quantify and be specific about what, how and when you want to succeed in each area of your life.

Shereketa” is a Shona word ordinarily meaning to fidget, to be restless, and to show discomfort. Whilst this word has largely been used negatively, the Shereketa principle channels it into a different dimension to be used positively for success. Shereketa re–defined refers to deliberate movements, actions and adjustments inspired by the calling to excellence & success, driven by a conviction against and a growing discomfort with mediocrity. The movements and actions take place in two realms - the inner spirit/convictions of your heart and the outer execution platforms of your physical and material world (Shereketa within and Shereketa without).

Deliberately and purposefully schedule meetings with yourself. These are the most important meetings in the life of one who intends to make their success deliberate. During these meeting you do much of the quality and honest communication with yourself. This is besides the conversations you are always carrying on with yourself in your own head or audibly. That doesn’t mean you are crazy, we all do it and we just need to improve the quality and positivity of those conversations.

Be disciplined enough to choose your network and be willing to sacrifice the circles that reduce your effectiveness and make you unproductive.

You are in obscurity when you are still needed but no one cares a lot what you say or think, or even where you are working from. You have no voice or presence that makes you relevant. Grow your voice.

The biblical preacher talks about the poor man’s wisdom that saved a city but he was immediately forgotten. A poverty of ideas, contributions, uniqueness or influence, will overshadow the visibility of good potential. Keep those ideas flowing and you will not be forgotten.

Some people are known, they have the platform and presence, but still remain irrelevant. They know you and what you do, but they don’t need you or your offering. I see too many people with a platform but without substance, again this is not sustainable. Lack of substance can only relegate your talent or skill towards the league of the mediocre, if at all you become much by superficial branding then you will become the best of the worst. You dont have what it takes but you depend on your ability to sell substandard offerings to the market. It will not last for long, but quickly become irrelevant.

Understand that every ‘voice’ has the spirit to influence. Watch your tone, accent, volume and speed. Be careful that you don’t sound angry or argumentative whenever driving an important point. Equally important, is not sounding serious or sounding playful when the message being conveyed needs to be taken seriously.

The obvious signs of a brand gone wrong are the levels of negative headlines it consistently attracts. People talking about you for all the negative and wrong reasons. You begin to shoot yourself in the foot and you have become your own enemy. The gospel about you should be good enough to create relevance and significance - or rather to confirm that.

You must learn to accept that humans make mistakes, but when the same issue is repeated over and over without corrective strategies to plug the holes, then you must expect negative impact on your definition of success. It is normal to make a mistake, but learn, face the consequences, get back up and march on. If you want to be different or stand out as a brand, then your actions, habits, behaviours and decisions must reflect that you care about what people think or say about you.

The results you are churning out are a direct or indirect reflection of what you allowed into your life. Unlearning what you already know and practice is no easy task, but sometimes it’s necessary for the programming or re-programming that must take place for success to be made deliberate.

Study to acquire knowledge - not just to get a certificate or promotion. Acquisition of knowledge is key to the programming or reprogramming of your mind and expanding your frame of reference. Choose the areas of study in line with your vision and mission as well as your strengths and interests. Make sure you seek opportunities to practice and implement the new information and knowledge you gain from your study.

It is imperative that you grow, because your personal growth and development is one of the most important things to you. Your growth is good for you – it must be deliberate.

No matter how much I care for you, you have to do your own growing – it’s your personal responsibility. Muscles do not grow by reading but by lifting weights. Exam grades do not improve by wishing but by studying.

Connect by listening well and speaking relevantly without being prejudiced or sarcastic. Learn to listen with your eyes as much as you listen with your ears. Generate interest in the person and subject, that way people will become more interested in you.

Don’t do things or act out your posture and gestures to impress people, just be yourself and portray the confident ‘you’ with that high self-esteem. So relax because you are ‘you’. Be sincere, be authentic. That will be impressive enough.

Appearance matters, we see your presentation before we get a chance to sample the substance within. You might miss a chance for the latter.