The African Unicorn

The African Unicorn is one of the oddest looking animals I have ever seen. The first time someone described it to me, I thought - no way that exists. When I looked at the Zebra striped legs and the Giraffe-like head, my logical mind started to work out how this could happen - a giraffe and a zebra had a baby. Well, that’s not possible so this must be photo shop. It must not be real.

Sir. Henry Hamilton Johnston ran into the same problems. He spent years talking to African Pygmy Natives, trying to prove that this animal did, in fact, exist. He had the 1900s equivalent of photo shop doubt: that skull isn’t real - you made that up. No one believed him, so much so that the name African Unicorn emerged. To all who looked at Sir. Henry, he was chasing mythical creatures.

I love hearing stories like this. Stories about people who persisted even though everyone around them doubted. Stories about the majority getting it wrong. Everyone loves an underdog, right? We love cheering for them, unfortunately we don't love being them.

Anytime you try to embark on something new, you will meet resistance. It might come, like Sir. Henry, in the form of doubt and criticism from the community around you. Or it may come from self-doubt. There will be days when you feel like you are chasing something that just can’t exist. You do the math, declare yourself an underdog, and decide that it’s just not possible.

When that happens, remember the African Unicorn. It looks like it shouldn’t exist. It looks impossible. But it’s not. It’s real, just like so many other things in this word once thought impossible. Don’t let mass doubt, or self-doubt, keep you from going after what you want.