You Will Win If You Do This One Thing
It’s a marathon not a sprint
A few months ago, I started learning to play the guitar. Over that time, I’ve made some progress. I can now play rhythm for some cool songs but also add embellishments on occasion. Am I good? No, I wouldn’t say my playing impresses anyone except me. On the other hand, I don’t expect to be able to play any Queen or Pat Metheny covers for quite some time. No worries, I want to enjoy playing guitar for the rest of my life. Not just impress my friends tomorrow. Another student said this the other day, “You’ll succeed at playing guitar as long as you don’t give up.”
Don’t Give Up
This is really the secret that this article presents to you. You can achieve anything you want in life if you don’t give up. Too often when we face our first real challenge or feel that we’re not making fast progress, then we decide that pursuing our goals is no longer worth the effort. That’s a shame.
When you start to acquire a new skill, you will see huge improvement at the beginning. This happens for two reasons: First, you have no skill or very little of it at the start. Secondly, you’re excited, so you pour a lot of energy and enthusiasm into growing. This momentum can’t last over the long run. You’ll need to have other motivations to keep progressing as your journey continues, so don’t give up.
If you’re going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill
The Journey to Your Goals
Over my 20 plus years of teaching and coaching, I’ve seen that developing any skill or ability is similar to walking a mountain range. You’ll start by going up one mountain. Then you will have to go down to make it to the next one. As you climb that peak you will reach a plateau. This is a good place to check your progress, but don’t stay there forever or you will never reach your destination. Up and down, over hills and into valleys. Some of it is beautiful and other parts are treacherous. Persist and you will begin to feel proficient. As you continue on your journey, you’ll realize that there’s no end in sight. The further you go, the farther there is to go. Development is infinite.
When you’re working towards a big goal sometimes you will have success. At other times you’ll feel that you’re not making any progress. Then there will also be times when you feel that you’re slipping. Don’t worry, it’s all part of the process. If you’re trying, you’re winning.
Embrace the Difficulties
If you’re a grinder, like me, you love the difficulties. A grinder is someone who sees the goal ahead and pushes forward like a bull in a china shop to achieve that. Most people aren’t grinders though. When times get tough they find it easy to slip back into familiar patterns and undesirable habits. If that’s you, stop. It’s time to see difficulties for what they really are. Difficulties and roadblocks are the places where you’ll have the most development. When you clear these obstacles you’ll have a whole new perspective on your skill.
You don’t necessarily need to keep pushing that rock up that steep slope. Sometimes you need to take a step back. Do an inventory of where you are, what you know, and make a new strategy. Talk to someone about your progress and challenges. You’ll get a fresh perspective by explaining the situation to someone. You will also gain the insight you may be missing because of being too close to the situation. Nothing is impossible if you embrace your difficulties and consider how you can overcome them.
The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.
Tommy Lasorda
Motivation
Difficulties test your motivation for achieving what you’re working on. Weak motivation will have you giving up at the first hardship. Strong motivation will allow you to withstand any challenge that gets between you and what you want to achieve. So make sure that your why is a strong partner. You’re going to take that “why” with you in good and bad times. It will be there to remind you that you haven’t reached the destination yet, so keep going.
You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.
Maya Angelou
Play the Long Game
As you’re moving along your course adversity will strike, guaranteed. Time-bound goals are effective for business. However, in your own life, you’ll be better off adjusting those deadlines. Realize that arriving at your destination weeks, months or even years later is still progress. It’s better to arrive at your destination delayed than not striving to achieve your goal at all. I’ll give you an example from my own life: My musical journey started in middle school and seemed impossible until only a few months ago. This book also is a project more than ten years in the making. Give yourself a break. If you can see the target, you can achieve hit it.
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Consider that whatever you’re doing now is getting you closer to where you want to be, so long as you aren’t spending all your time sitting on the couch binge-watching TV. Keep that project, desire, or goal in your mind. Experiences and opportunities will aid your development and progress. It may take longer than you’d envisioned, but with determination, you’ll get there.
Have you ever had the experience of hearing a song you needed to hear at precisely the right moment? If you have, then you know that what you need manifests itself, coming into your life when you need it. You only have to listen and take action. Making what you want to achieve a lifelong commitment will open so many doors for you. It’ll provide opportunities you have never imagined. Consider your development a journey of endurance, and little by little, like Aesop’s turtle, you will win the race.
Be the Champion of Your Vision
Only you can do what your mind and spirit are telling you to do. You’ve got to carry that torch and make your life one of achievement. No one else can do it for you. When you’re feeling down and like your life is meaningless, you’ve got to find some internal drive to shake that off and move forward, knowing that you have value and untapped potential.
You have a purpose. You’re unique, and there will never be another you on this planet. Challenge the life you have, reaching out for the one you want. Break those expectations that are holding you back and create new ones that will catapult you forward. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you’ve accomplished in your life so far. You’re destined to make a difference in the lives of others, the health of the planet, or some other contribution that’s aligned with the person that you are. With thinking like this, your feelings of despair and hopelessness will occur less frequently. When those overwhelming feelings do come, you’ll have the weapons and talents to keep them at bay initially and eventually maybe even kill them off completely.
Summary
It’s through this growth, learning of new skills and knowledge, and unlearning of misconceptions, false ideas, and inefficient processes that you can conquer the mental and psychological blocks that are holding you back. Day by day through vision, determination, and persistence you will win. Just don’t give up.
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