The Cage Mentality: From the Mind to the Mountaintop

By Edgar Mangwende

Your mind is one of your greatest assets. Success in any area of your life hinges upon the quality of your thoughts and your thinking capacity. No doubt, the mind is the driving force to the present state of our social, political, economic, and cultural setups. The ability to tune your mind to any of these areas will determine your level of success in that selected area. If you are looking for an inspirational book to dose yourself with empty, feel-good stories, taking up valuable time and space, regrettably, this is not the right book for you. The Cage Mentality is a must read for anyone who desires to increase the returns on that asset we call the mind. This hands-on guide zeroes in on cutting-edge discoveries in neuroscience and translates them to easy-to-understand, practical steps to help you develop your sense of direction or improve an already existing one, redirecting and/or turning ideas and dreams into reality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Mar 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543488579

Edgar Mangwende

Brought up in a newly self-governing Republic of Zimbabwe, Edgar Mangwende is part of Africa's new millennium post-colonial generation. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Horticulture from Midland State University, Zimbabwe, an MSc from University of Pretoria, and is currently pursuing his PhD in Plant Pathology from University of Pretoria, South Africa. Being a product of the prevalent socio-economic and political disparity almost synonymous with the continent of Africa and to a larger extent most third world developing nations, he has fought the odds to break free from the cage mentality and makes use of his life experience as a beacon of hope, strength and motivation to all humanity across all spheres of life. He has a passion for empowering and influencing anyone with an inquisitive mind, seeking a way to reach the mountaintop in any capacity.

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Copyright © 2018 by Edgar Mangwende.

Library of Congress Control Number:     2018900831

ISBN:               Hardcover                     978-1-5434-8859-3

                         Softcover                       978-1-5434-8858-6

                         eBook                             978-1-5434-8857-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 03/02/2018

Xlibris

800-056-3182

www.Xlibrispublishing.co.uk

764166

Table of Contents

Preface

Foreword

Chapter 1:     Introduction

Chapter 2:     The why to the bars?

Chapter 3:     Mentorship and the cage mentality

Chapter 4:     A caged mind and lack of mentorship

Chapter 5:     Am I caged?

Chapter 6:     Enough is enough

Chapter 7:     Keys to the cage

Chapter 8:     Open the cage

Chapter 9:     Life beyond the bars

Chapter 10:   Let’s empty the cage

Chapter 11:   Mentorship that melts the bars

Chapter 12:   Breaking the cycle

Quotes from the cage

Acknowledgements

PREFACE

The mind remains one of humanity’s most revered and powerful assets. It essentiality promotes us to a place of dominion among earth’s creations. Behind every success is a well-tuned mindset. Often, behind a failure is a defeated mind. What the eye embraces is a manifestation of the mindset. As such many of our social, political, economic and cultural problems are rooted in a particular mindset. ‘The Cage Mentality’ is not just another book or a mere library collection. ‘The Cage Mentality’ is a transformational tool written to give one a sense of direction, a plan for redirection and advice for staying on the right path in life generally. From the Mind to the Mountaintop; the title and subtitle of this script, demystify the notions associated with mentorship, ignorance and life’s roadmap to success. ‘The Cage Mentality’ will unravel one’s state of mind, know the state and understand the root problem. This book utilizes a holistic approach on the subject of the mindset by covering areas such as am I in the cage? How did I end up being caged, how to escape the cage mentality, how to avoid the cage and the power of breaking this cycle from one generation to another.

FOREWORD

It was in 2005 when I first met this young man, full of zeal and optimism. I had the privilege of leading and training him in the Lord. Watching him grow up as a leader in the church and his faith at large has been such a joy. Although unrefined, he was zealous in the duties assigned to him and he never disappointed me.

As his spiritual leader for years I spent long hours of mentoring the leader I saw in him. I have met and mentored a lot of people who have gone on to make a difference in the world today, but Edgar is outstanding as a hard worker and a go-getter that never settles for less than the best.

I remember the days when he served as a deacon and led a home group, I saw a leader that was hungry for all the knowledge of how to go about helping people around him in their faith. One day he left his home and came to stay with me in pursuit of fathering and mentoring, which was a great move which I believe paid off. Sometimes the best way to learn is seeing how those you look up to live and spend their time each day.

Being raised in the ghetto where most of his peers looked comfortable with their status quo, Edgar chose to live by a different script. He stood up firmly and fought strongly against the caged mindset that surrounded him. Distancing himself from what most young men think is the crown of young life such as trying to prove your worth by dating the best and most beautiful girl in the area or falling a victim to alcohol, drug and substance abuse, he chose to keep his life accountable as he focused on his studies and serving God. Being accountable is the surest way to get to the mountaintop.

As he shares his life’s journey and experiences in this book it resonates in my heart that he has seen value in learning from those that went ahead of us. As for me, I am what I am today because there are other men that risked with me and led me strongly over the years. I dropped out of school because my parents couldn’t afford to pay my school fees, but today I sit with kings and travel the world fulfilling God’s plan for my life.

The choice is in our hands -- to complain about our past and be caged in it or break free from it and start a new course of life to reach the mountaintop. Edgar embraces challenges that would scare others, such as leading older people and sharing his life’s experiences with me as his spiritual leader. As you read this book, may you look at your life and be inspired to find a way to break free of the cage you are in.

I remember one day speaking to young people in my community to keep pursuing education, I shared my personal life of how I stay up late at night reading books. Moments after that, I remember Edgar coming and saying I take up the challenge. I will continue to study even though at that time he had a degree. Today he is yet to finish his PhD in Plant Pathology, an achievement that will inspire many people.

With his passion for success, Edgar has done significantly well. After earning his BSc honors degree in Horticulture, he served as a science teacher at a local private school where he inspired young minds to break free from their cages.

Having been raised in a poverty-stricken nation, he understands that learning does not only happen in the classroom, but is also derived from following instruction of those who have gone ahead of you. Certainly, Edgar has not allowed the circumstances surrounding him to define and limit him from reaching his dreams. His heart’s desire has been to succeed and to go the extra mile. His motto is only the sky is the limit.

The worst enemy of our life’s journey is our thought process and the curse of comparisons. Failure to appreciate and acknowledge what others have achieved in life often leads to jealous. With this, we don’t open our minds to learn making us small-minded and never allows us to think outside the box. It is possible for everyone in this life to break free from the status quo and pursue bigger dreams in life. Never settle for less.

A longtime friend of mine that I regard as