ZANU PF UK BLOG: A Mind-set for World Dominance

A Call for Growth and Development Mind-Set

By Nyasha Maringa

Zanu-PF has educated us since independence in order to raise the level of our most precious asset, our minds. The Zanu-PF Manifesto for the years 2013 to 2018 states as a goal, the fostering of the Zimbabwean youth who has an inner drive for national prosperity and the success of his or her fellow Zimbabweans. In the manifesto, it is recognised that "it is this age group that is most vulnerable to external political, cultural and information manipulation which, if left unchecked, often results in the youth becoming politically apathetic or misguided...falling prey to all sorts of ills of life."

The enemy knows that he can attack our minds through manipulation. Zanu-PF can only go so far in their pursuit for our protection and personal development. A deliberate effort on our own part is called for especially to guard and to enrich our mind-sets. Our destiny as individuals and as a nation is intrinsically linked to whether or not we utilise our minds and in what direction we utilise them, whether we conquer or succumb to the external political, cultural and information manipulation.

One aim that we can assume as individuals is the continual development of our own minds so that they work at their top potential in the direction of our best interests. Our best and only chance for a good quality of life is through independence and sovereignty, to opt for servitude is to accept a low quality of life. We service our cars and we detox our bodies, we should service and detox our minds as well to secure our independence and sovereignty, to ensure a life of growth and development for ourselves and for generations to come.

National growth and development starts inside the mind and so does conflict and chaos. Any work that has ever been created by a human being started in the mind. Any nation in world history that has ever embarked on a drive towards world competitiveness or dominance has recognised the importance of possessing the right knowledge or skill-set and a positive mind-set.

A positive mind-set is characterised by clarity, self-belief, peace, patience, endurance, empathy, desire for truth, vigilance, creativity and other positives. On the other hand, an uneducated mind is powerless and a negative mind-set is characterised by such ills as anxiety, addictions, apathy, lack of self-belief, ill tempers, blind faith, paranoia, amnesia, selfishness, ignorance and bitterness.

Morgan and his advisers are on a renewed mission of campaigning for
the retention of sanctions which have indirectly killed thousands of
Zimbabweans and damaged the economy

A negative mind-set will produce negative results that are a detriment to ourselves and the nation as a whole. We should fight against negative mind-sets, they are silent barriers to cooperation.

Explicit attention should be paid as much to the mind-set as to the skill-set if we are to overcome the dragging social ills. The accumulated knowledge or the skill-set of an individual is one aspect of the mind; the other aspect is the mind-set. The neglect of one's skill-set brings undesired outcomes and so does the neglect of one's mind-set. It is a worthy cause to aspire to attain the full potential of our minds if we are to achieve our goals. God gave us our minds so that we utilise them and God does not give his children challenges that are too big to master.

It is important to recognise that there is a history to this challenge of the negative mind-sets. The Rhodesian colonial government made a deliberate attempt, during their 90 year reign to alter our mind-sets with the objective of totally disabling our resistance from their rule. They tried to condition us to be submissive and to feel worthless and hopeless. They wanted our land to keep and to keep us as their servants forever.

This was the same throughout Africa when the Europeans invaded our lands. The Europeans had to work to make sure that we were incapable of fighting back and they worked it on both the physical level and the mental level. It took courage. unity and a high sense of self worth to break the shackles.

It is also important to know that forces still exist that have the purpose of manipulating our mind-sets so as to create and perpetuate the social ills mentioned above. Such forces are mostly manifested on the television.

Here in the United Kingdom, the media promotes a picture of Zimbabwe as a country that is not governed by the rule of law. A Zimbabwean with a blind faith mind-set may believe this and chose to expend his energy towards pursuits that are counter productive to the goals of his nation for an illusory gain. It is possible for a nation to be highly educated but with a manipulated mind-set which, instead of being driven to produce for its people, produces for its colonial masters. It is just as possible for an individual to be highly educated but, because of his past experiences, alienated from his own family's best interests. It is imperative that we watch our mind-sets.

Stuck in a cycle of negativity: Failed regime change agents and
political failures are on a mission to promote a negative image
of Zimbabwe and its policies

When we are stuck in a negative mind-set, we may find that we get limited as to where we can go or what we can do thus it becomes a barrier to the goals that we aspire to achieve in the long or short term. Sometimes we may find that we are unable to enter into a constructive conversation with our fellows or we may be unable to focus on a matter under discussion long enough because of our tempers, ignorance, denials or insecurities. These kinds of situations are most conducive for those who want to colonise us.

Peace times call for a growth and development mind-set, times of turmoil call for a vigilant mind-set and war time calls for a warrior mind-set. Likewise, we require different mind-sets during different times of the day or for different periods and occasions through out life like work time, party time, time alone to reflect, family time or the time that we spend with our friends. During the period preceding an exam, we may assume a mind-set to study. A popular saying goes, when we work, let’s work hard; when we play, lets play hard. We cannot work when we are in a playful state of mind neither can we play when we are in a working state of mind. It is important to be able to transform from one mind-set to another and to avoid negative mind-sets if we are to be able to effectively adapt to situations.

The transformation of mind-sets is possible. The mind is like the body, what we feed our bodies determine our state of physical health and what we feed our mind determines the state of our mental health and our ability to adapt. Our state of mental health is often the outcome of what we have fed our minds over the preceding years of our lives and our experiences. It follows that any deliberate attempt to alter the mind-set will take time and effort but the rewards make the hard work worth it.

I once disliked reading in general and only used to read just to pass exams. There came a time when I decided that it was imperative that I assume a habit of reading widely. It was tough and it took time to get going; now I can read volumes of material, something that I had never imagined that I would ever do. I altered my attitude towards reading and through reading, I have been able to make many revelations. I have also adopted the habit of listening to YouTube lectures for hours, something that I did not have before.

Positive mind-sets: Made sacrifices for the independence of Zimbabwe
and positively resolved their differences to unite the nation.

We can choose our habits and nurture them, lets chose habits that are in line with our national goals and our best interests in life and purge ourselves of those that are not. This will certainly increase the efficiency at which we work and cooperate with each other. The altering of a mind-set is just like learning a new skill, it takes thought, action and time and it can be done deliberately. This is contrary to such myths as that the mental state of an individual is fixed at a young age or by the colour of skin. The bible says in Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." The mind is like a garden, if we want to reap good produce, we have to tend the garden positively, if we neglect our garden, weeds will grow without encouragement.

Some television programs are garbage to the mind just as some foods are garbage to the body. Educational programs may be boring just as healthy foods might not be as tasty. Growth is more important than entertainment. There will be other challenges on this journey of mental growth, challenges such as a lack of knowledge of how to do it, the demands of day to day sustenance and external manipulation. A desire for truth and a willingness to work hard to obtain truth can overcome these challenges. Such desires too can be learnt, we can program ourselves to ask the questions why, how, who, where and when. The internet is a reservoir of answers when we learn to see through the manipulation.

At this point, allow me to suggest some successful and prominent personalities whose teachings are a good aid in the pursuit of a positive mind-set. These personalities always mention that the success of an individual is down more to their mind-set than it is to their level of education. Brian Tracy's story is that of rags to riches. He has numerous YouTube videos that are pleasant to listen to.

Ben Jochannan is one of the most prominent personalities in the world on the subject of African history. He shows that black people have more to be proud of than they realise, this knowledge will have a positive impact on our minds. He too has numerous YouTube videos.

There is a lecture by Professor Carol Dweck called 'Teaching a growth mind-set'. Creflo Dollar is a pastor who teaches the bible from the perspective of the mind, he has numerous YouTube videos, one good one is called "Withstanding Mental Attacks ". The bible is a good resource for mind-set development. There are many other affordable books that have been written on the subject.

So, my brothers and sisters, "iwe neni tine basa", "mina lawe silo musebenzi". It’s not always about what our party and country can do for us but it is also about what we can do for our party and country. Having a high standard of education and a positive mind-set is indispensable to our own futures and therefore to our party and our nation. If we have to start with baby steps, lets do so, the important thing is that we will be moving in the right direction. Future generations will definitely benefit from the steps that we would have taken just as we have benefited from the steps that our forefathers took to win independence.

Cde Joshua Nkomo said that “Peace begins with Me; Peace begins with You; Peace begins with all of Us” Lets us come together and surge ahead to glory. It can be done.

Aluta continua, victory is certain!

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