Executive Director of the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries (BCSI), Graham Clarke (left), presenting Brent Sylvester with his Reflexology certificate.
Don’t become an obstacle to your own success
Be careful that you do not become your greatest obstacle to success.
Minister Dr. Kenroy Burke said that unfortunately at times, it is not the other people around you that would hinder you from achieving your dreams, but you yourself, as you become so busy with other things that you lose sight of your goals.
“I would also remind you to be very careful that you don’t become your greatest distraction. Something that I learnt a little while ago – and I am trying my best to ensure that I implement it for 2017 – busyness can become a distraction. You get busy, you start doing a whole set of things, you get involved in all kinds of things, and before you know it, 2017 has passed and you have not done anything further to fulfil that dream that you have been thinking about for a while.”
Persons can also get in the habit of always trying to do things for other people, that they do not make time for themselves and attaining their dreams.
“Then you get a little overcommitted. So you start something for this body and start doing for that person, and to some extent, you are actually investing in their dreams and not in yours. I am encouraging you not to be your biggest challenge, but to keep your focus as you move forward.”
The Minister also urged them to stay focussed no matter how difficult it gets.
“The second thing that I want to share with you is on ‘stick-a-bility’. Any proper study, anything that you do that is worth it, would stretch you to your capacity. It really and truly was not meant to be a cake walk, to just walk in and walk out with a certificate... You came to study, you came to put your heart into what you were doing.
“In addition, it is also important that they do not let their negative self-talk get in the way either.
“Some people fail before they even start, and they fail before they start because they fail right here (in) the mind. I believe that if you want someone to believe in your business plan, you have to first believe in it. You have to first believe in yourself.
“At some point in time, you are going to go to some entity and say, ‘I want to open, I want to start my own, I want to establish’. Whatever that is, if you don’t believe in yourself, you can’t expect anybody else to believe in you.”
At the time, Dr. Burke was delivering the feature address at the PBHC School of Holistic Therapies Inc. Graduation Ceremony and 10 year Anniversary, on Saturday night at Almond Bay Caterers.