Man, I wish it was a lot easier than it is. I have goals I would like to accomplish, things I would like to get done and proficiencies I want to obtain. I want to be really good at things, or maybe just something. I want to reach success in some area. But it takes a lot of work. Success is best achieved when reached through many, many, many small steps forward and even a for steps backward.
Whenever I start a new venture I really hope that it is "my prodigy" moment and I can achieve a high level of success almost immediately. I was this way with golf. It looks so easy when you watch it on TV. It looks (and is) really easy on the Nintendo Wii. It is not easy when you try it in real life. To illustrate how bad at golf I am I once shot a 48 on 9 holes and by 48 I mean that is how many balls I lost.
I am constantly looking for the get- rich- quick investment where I can turn $1,000 into $250,000 in a matter of months. I want to be able to have a great marriage quickly. I want success in my professions of teaching, leading and coaching. I want it now. I want to be a great public speaker and I want to have hundreds of followers on Twitter. I look at people who have made it and want what they have. Oh yeah, and repeat after me, I Want it Now!
It is hard for me to comprehend how hard guys I admire have had to work. How many times they were up at 2am for a flight or up past 2am to keep writing to make a deadline. It is easy for me to say I want the success of a Coach K, Dave Ramsey or John Maxwell. But am I willing to work as hard as they have worked? Am I willing to undergo the amount of stress and trauma that they have? Am I willing to work as hard as they have? While no one will deny that Michael Jordan was an incredibly gifted athlete he was also one of the hardest workers ever. Kobe Bryant was known for beginning his daily workouts before 5am. They were naturally gifted for sure but they also paid the price and struggled to reach the top. All we see is these phenomenal men at the pinnacle, we rarely see the struggle to get there.
Be encouraged. While it can be frustrating and long journey to reach the heights in your career and dream that you want to reach, know that it can be done. Almost none of the men and women that we admire reached it to their dreams because of natural talent alone. The overwhelming majority of our heroes had to struggle and work to reach the top. Even those who invented something (see Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison) there are countless hours and failures spent before the breakthrough.
Bottom Line is that it takes untold hours (more likely years) of behind the scenes work and sweat and tears to reach your dreams. They can be accomplished if you are willing to take one step in the right direction each day. Success is found in taking small steps towards your dreams over a massive amount of time.
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