Recently, a Zimbabwean athlete called Themba Gorimba went viral on social media.
It’s an inspirational story I’d like to share with you, and I think you will benefit from the lesson at the end.
After qualifying for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the States, his hard work and dedication led him to win his first fight.
After the fight, he announced publicly that he would auction off his match gear for money.
Before winning his first fight, he had only $7 left in his bank account and lived in the gym where he trained.
Rather than use the money for a place for him and his family to live, he chose to use the money from the auction to drill and construct a water borehole in his village in Zimbabwe.
What a selfless act.
Themba shared the story on social media. Somehow, Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson got hold of it. It immediately resonated with him because many years ago, he was in a similar situation to Themba.
The Rock, a highly successful athlete and businessman, is also selfless. He decided he would support Themba in his mission to become a champion UFC fighter and improve the living conditions for his people back home in Zimbabwe.
Bear in mind, this is someone he had only recently learned about through a viral video on the internet.
What happened next blew me away.
The Rock bought Themba a house in Miami and gave him a bunch of Project Rock Under Armour gear to train in.
When presenting this gift to Themba, the Rock said,
“Now you don’t have anything to worry about other than getting your family over here and becoming a champion”.
As usual, this phrase hit me and got me thinking.
Removing Distractions
We all have goals and dreams we want to achieve. But it can be difficult to focus on these goals with everything else going on around us.
The Rock knows how important it is for Themba to give his full attention and energy to becoming a champion.
Becoming a champion will give Themba the best opportunity to support his family and village in Zimbabwe.
Removing the stress of finding and paying for a place for him and his family to live frees a significant amount of energy he can direct to mastering his craft.
The better he gets at his craft, the better he can support his family.
What’s the Lesson?
There is no lesson, per se. But I’ll leave you a question to ponder about:
How can you remove unnecessary distractions so you can focus on what’s really important?
Here’s how it happened. What a story!!
