People love to read the success stories of the self-made millionaire, the country star, and the body builder. In those stories, we of course read about the down in the gutter moments and the setbacks, but we really want to see what they did to get the results. With the amount of video content online, we now get an even more concentrated version of the highlights titled “Top 10 things to Start Doing” and “5 Things to Avoid to Get Maximized Results”. This may be true and helpful to whatever goal we are striving for, however it often leaves out the other side of the equation.
There will always be a level of sacrifice required and life may feel unbalanced for a period of time. We absolutely have to pick and choose where our time, energy, money and priority will be in order to get the results we are after. Anything worthwhile has a price to pay. In order to say yes to our goals we have to say no to many, many things. It would be great if the things we had to say no to were obviously bad for us, (fast food for the person trying to lose weight, and taking a vacation for the person heavily in debt). This would at least make it easier for those around to help support us. Usually the things we have to say no to are also good things, time with family, vacationing, or a fun event. There are many things we can still fit in around our “All In” goals. We can prioritize our health, family, finances, and goals. We just have to be intentional and present with whatever one is in front of us at the moment.
There are many words for the concept of perseverance: The Grind, Follow Through, Keeping the Blinders On, and Tenacity. These all require us to dig deep and keep going. When the shininess of the new goal wears off a little, this is when the quitters separate from the people who keep going. It doesn’t matter what each individual day looks like. It won’t be pretty or uniform. In reality it is much messier than that. Our sleep schedule, diet, mood, stress, and time management all play a big part in our day. If we have a set thing we have committed to do every day, it may look like a sprint one day and a crawl the next. The key to actually achieving our set goal, is consistency.
There is no shortcut to anything worthwhile. The person who filed for bankruptcy is getting a fresh start, but they don’t have the new skills they would have built if they had paid it all back. The discipline required to build consistency is a badge of honor. Stringing together one month, five months, or two years of a habit, skill, or routine, is what leads to the “Overnight Successes”.
As we all know they are not truly overnight successes. Instead they are the person who got up at 5am every morning to get their first workout in before work, and then did their second workout in the afternoon for two years. Through injuries and soreness, they went from obese to a body builder getting ready for their first competition. The person who works a full-time job while also building their network, resources and side business, is now selling their business for millions.
It may not feel like the giant goal we set is getting closer every day, but we can definitely see the small successes adding up. Our strength, skill, resolve, and determination grow every time we achieve what we set out to do for the day. If you have a day that you failed to follow through, don’t wallow. Tomorrow’s a new day. It’s not the first day’s slip-up that makes the difference, it’s the second, third and fourth that are dangerous.
So set a big scary goal. Divy up that big goal into smaller goals. Commit to your daily actions through the smooth sailing and rough seas. Don’t compare your progress with anyone else’s; instead, track your progress by comparing who you were and what you were capable of just weeks or months ago. Lastly, understand that the other side of perseverance is patience. Hard work and consistency always leads to our goal, but patience is still necessary when the trenches feel never ending.