“Stop ‘trying’ and just ‘do’”; “Take the first step”; and “Have courage” were just a few of the phrases Deon Groenewald used at the Evening of Positive Engagement held at the Roodepoort Theatre on 15 April.
Deon, who is an international transformational speaker, entrepreneur and accredited master trainer was the evening’s guest speaker and shared his unique view on life and lessons for success with the audience.
He said one of the greatest things humans can do is day-dream. He specifically spoke about day dreams that instil hope. The way to recognise them is by how recurring they are. “These dreams linger with you in the day. There is something in the back of your mind saying ‘I must remember that, I want to achieve this’. But here is the problem we have with those dreams; we think they are not achievable,” he encouraged. He explained that one dreams because the means to achieve that is possible. “You can’t think of something you are not aware of.”
Any person who has ever listened to a motivational speaker has probably heard them explain the ways in which fear is the biggest thing holding people back. Deon said fear puts people in a paralysed state because we often compare ourselves to other people and try to replicate what they are already doing. But every individual has their own unique gift and natural capabilities.
“What is your natural capability?” he asked the audience.
According to Deon, every person’s unique gift is often so simplistic (to the person) that they believe everyone else has the same ability, which is often not the case. Act on your gift and follow your passion, and see what happens. He encouraged everyone in attendance to take the first step of courage. “The only way to find out is to take the first step. When you take the first step, you’ll notice you know what the second step is. The dream that lingers was given to you, act on it.”
Ward 89 councillor, Amelia Bester, who hosted the event noted that Deon’s words were of importance and had her questioning herself. “Something that we find ourselves battling with in life is ‘did I make a difference’, and more especially now as my term comes to an end.”
Amanda Ludike, who attended the event with her daughter, said the evening gave them a lot to think about. She mentioned taking a leap towards her future to pursue dreams and not stagnate. Londiwe Mthabela added, “I am still digesting what he said. I am taking it to the next level and I am moving to my dream job.”
