Doing Hard Things

I have been making a lot of changes in my life. I am changing my homeschooling style; I am changing my eating and exercise habits; I am working on real estate classes to earn my broker’s license; and I am newly involved with a direct sales company.

Taking on a new challenge is exciting and I know the benefits of being successful. Being successful is my goal. Becoming a better person, becoming healthier, becoming smarter and wealthier are all on my list of things to accomplish. You may have one or all on your list of things to do or be also. How can I be successful? Will it happen soon? The changes I want all require something of myself that I don’t have – yet.

This weekend I heard an interesting discussion. It centered on why people are not successful in reaching their goals. Some may say this didn’t work for me, or that was too hard, or the other thing was all wrong. But the final analysis focused on their perseverance. Did you actually fail? Or did you quit?

It struck me that many times in life we quit just short of making that new habit stick. We quit too soon. We quit when it gets hard. We quit before we exhaust all our options. Successful people don’t quit. They try new things, they focus on their goal, they realize their dream is worth fighting for. Successful people find a mentor, educate themselves, and read motivational books. They join like minded people and support groups. They look for solutions and not reasons to quit. I get discouraged and ask myself how long will success take? That answer depends on me. How can I make my goal? Do I need a new skill, new habit, new attitude, new solutions? A resounding Yes to all of those questions! Is it going to be hard? Will it hurt? Will it cost me something? Yes! Yes! Yes!

It is now March and a fourth of the year is gone. Any New Year’s resolutions you had are probably being challenged. It is probably becoming hard to continue. Success depends on you. Are you quitting too soon?