The ability to clearly name what you want

BUILDERS WINNING: KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

MASTERY AFRICA TUESDAY | SKILLS FOR BUILDERS

MN COLLECTIVE | INSIGHTS UNFILTERED

BELIEVE. BRAND. BUILD AFRICA.

MN Collective exists to transform thinkers into builders people who believe boldly, build intentionally, and create solutions that move Africa forward.

It is about clarity, faith, obedience and action.

Know it.

Write the vision. Make it plain. Commit it to God. Then get to work.

There is a fundamental skill every builder needs:

The ability to clearly name what you want.

If you cannot clearly name what you want, how can your mind begin working towards it?

If I gave you a blank piece of paper today and asked you to write:

This is what I want.

Could you?

Not what your parents want.

Not what society expects.

Not what looks impressive on LinkedIn.

Not what everyone else is chasing.

What do YOU want?

That question sounds simple.

It isn't.

A lot of people know what they don't want.

I don't want this job.

I don't want to struggle.

I don't want to be broke.

I don't want to live here.

I don't want this kind of life.

But ask them:

So, what exactly do you want?”

And suddenly there is silence.

Builders cannot afford to live there.

BUILDERS KNOW WHAT THEY WANT

One of the most important differences between people who build and people who simply drift through life is **clarity.

Builders know what they are building towards.

They may not know exactly how? they are going to get there.

They may not have the money.

They may not have the connections.

They may not have the team.

They may not have the perfect strategy.

They may not even know what the next five steps are.

But they can name the destination.

They can say:

This is the company I want to build.

This is the problem I want to solve.

This is the market I want to enter.

This is the position I am working towards.

This is the amount of revenue I want to generate. They have a figure. 

This is the impact I want to make.

This is the life I want to create.

They know the WHAT even when they haven't figured out the HOW.**

That matters.

Because sometimes our obsession with how? stops us from ever beginning.

DON'T FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT. START.

We have been conditioned to believe that before we start, we need a complete plan.

I disagree.

You need enough clarity to move.

There are things you will only understand once you begin.

There are people you will only meet once you enter the journey.

There are opportunities you cannot see from where you are standing today.

There are skills you don't even know you need yet.

There are doors that only become visible after you have walked through the first one.

So don't spend five years trying to figure out every detail of a journey you haven't started.

Know what you want.

Write it down.

Start.

The HOW will evolve.

IF YOU CAN IMAGINE IF YOU KNOW IT. WRITE IT DOWN

Some of the things you want may sound ridiculous today.

Write them down anyway.

Maybe you can see a company that doesn't exist yet.

Write it down.

Maybe you can imagine yourself leading across Africa. Transforming and building builders. 

Write it down.

Maybe you can see a product that nobody around you understands.

Write it down.

Maybe you want to build a business that employs thousands of people.

Write it down.

Maybe you want to transform an industry.

Write it down.

Maybe you want to create something your family has never seen before.

Write it down.

Your current circumstances do not have to be big enough to accommodate your imagination.

That is why builders need vision.

You have to be able to see beyond what currently exists.

CLARITY CHANGES HOW YOU MOVE

Once you clearly define what you want, something changes.

You begin noticing information differently.

You start recognising relevant people.

You become more intentional about where you spend your time.

You know which opportunities deserve a yes and which ones require a no.

You start identifying the skills you need.

Your conversations become more purposeful.

Your decisions become easier because you have something against which to measure them.

Clarity gives direction to action.

Without clarity, everything looks like an opportunity.

With clarity, you can ask:

Does this move me closer to what I am building?

That is a powerful question.

YOUR VISION DOESN'T NEED EVERYONE'S PERMISSION

One of the dangers of naming what you want is that other people may immediately tell you why it cannot happen.

It's too big.

You don't have the money.

You don't know the right people.

Nobody has done that before.

Who do you think you are?

Good.

They don't have to see it yet.

You do.

Builders often have to believe in something before there is evidence that it will work.

That is part of building.

The building exists in someone's imagination before it exists on the ground.

The company exists as an idea before there are employees.

The product exists in someone's mind before there is a prototype.

The movement exists as conviction before there is a community.

Everything built begins somewhere as an idea of what could be.

The question is whether you are willing to believe it long enough to act on it.

WRITE. BELIEVE. ACT.

There is a sequence I want builders to remember:

KNOW IT.

Be clear about what you want.

WRITE IT.

Take it out of your head and put it somewhere you can see it.

BELIEVE IT.

Give yourself permission to believe that what you imagine is worth pursuing.

ACT.

Do something.

Make the call.

Send the email.

Register the company.

Build the prototype.

Ask for the meeting.

Learn the skill.

Approach the customer.

Apply for the opportunity.

Start with what you have.

You don't need to know the entire road.

You need enough courage to take the next step.

THE BUILDER'S EXERCISE

Take a blank piece of paper.

At the top, write:

THIS IS WHAT I WANT.

Then write.

Don't overthink it.

Don't edit yourself.

Don't ask whether it is realistic yet.

Don't worry about how you are going to get there.

First, get clear.

What do you want to build?

Who do you want to become?

What problem do you want to solve?

What impact do you want to make?

Where do you want to be?

What does winning look like to you?

Name it.

Write it.

Then ask yourself one final question:

What can I do TODAY that moves me one step closer?

Do that.

Tomorrow, move again.

Because builders don't wait until they have everything figured out.

They see it.

They name it.

They write it.

They believe it.

And then they build it.

That is how builders move.

That is how builders win.

Less waiting. More building.

MN COLLECTIVE | INSIGHTS UNFILTERED

BELIEVE. BRAND. BUILD AFRICA.

Write the vision, and make it plain — Habakkuk 2:2 (KJV)

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.— Proverbs 16:3 (KJV)